Today has been all about enjoying the brilliantly sunny day while doing our best to keep cool. We’ve reached that wonderful time of year when we begin to remove the panels on the greenhouse and the chimps enjoy breakfast in the open air with a view of the hill. Volunteer caregiver Lizz made an extremely popular smoothie this morning (pineapple, banana and lime) and served apples and watermelon so the chimps were beside themselves.
Annie emptying her cup and Jody on the left licking up a drop from the caging:
Everyone was so happy this morning that even Negra couldn’t contain herself and initiated a wrestling game with Missy in the middle of breakfast (you can see a glimpse of Missy’s big play face!):
Foxie and Jody anxious for Lizz to pass out watermelon:
Foxie rubbing her toes in happiness:
After breakfast the chimps all headed out onto the hill with almost everyone heading to the top. Annie chose to go on her own exploration, as she often does:
Annie is her own woman. She has so many endearing habits – walking bipedally around Young’s Hill more often than not, making her Annie-bird noises by whistling through her hands when she’s particularly content, and lying on her back and blowing water out of her mouth to wash her face. With the temperatures hovering around 90, she has taken to doing this as a way cool off as well:
The chimps have been enjoying lots of frozen and watery treats today to stay hydrated and we even broke out the snow cone machine.
My favorite mountain lupines are finally blooming around Young’s Hill and there is an entire field that reaches inside and outside the perimeter of the chimps’ outdoor habitat. Walking through that area is my favorite part of the walks with Jamie this time of year. Sometimes the amazing scent wafts through the greenhouse:
For the first time I noticed several Melissa Blues, a small violet-blue butterfly I have typically only seen at higher elevations around the mountain lakes and rivers. There were so many floating around the lupine today it looked as if the flowers were taking flight:
It’s such a beautiful time at the sanctuary. Be it butterflies, flowers, beautiful days, exciting fresh food, or big-hearted humans, I’m so grateful for all the beauty, in all it’s varied forms, that surrounds the chimps every day.
