This week has been filled with sunshine and no-snow, which is somewhat unusual for December in Central Washington. These lovely weather conditions, combined with the fact that the chimps have received a surplus stock of Christmas gifts, made us decide to do a Christmas preview for the chimpanzees out on Young’s Hill. The last couple of years we have given the chimps potted Christmas trees in December and then planted them on Young’s Hill when the ground thaws in the spring. There are currently 3 Christmas trees planted in their 2 acre outdoor enclosure. This afternoon we decorated them all for a holiday forage.
Bell peppers and apple slices make pretty festive ornaments!
Missy:
Burrito and Missy:
Jody:
Jamie:
Foxie:
She quickly found all her new gifts!
Annie:
Negra went out briefly onto the hill, but decided to eat her lunch in the toasty playroom.
WOW! What a fun adventure for all.
Love the apple and pepper decorations; they look fantastic.
Great to see a forage and party outside with their beautiful trees. Thanks for getting trees that can be planted and enjoyed for a long time by all. We should take that as a good plan for the rest of us.
Looks like the chimps had a wonderful day. Thank you SO much for providing them with a rich and interesting life. After all they went through for the first 3 decades of their life, I am deeply grateful that they now can experience happiness. I really admire the creativity you bring to their daily enrichment. Don’t know how you manage to keep coming up with so many great ideas! Bravo to all of you – humans and chimps !!! <3 <3 <3
I so deeply appreciate the creativity that comes from you and thru you to provide such loving and stimulating experiences for these chimp people who we love so much!! Really wonderful stuff!! Hugs to you all….
I can’t say it any better than the three ladies above. You amaze me with your creative ideas! I would have thought Negra might have ventured out just to gather some of those blankets! And I have to ask, what’s inside the long gift wrapped tubes that Jody and Foxie have in their hands?
Thanks for sharing all the lovely colorful photos. Magical! Thanks for giving The Seven another wonderful day.
We put some nuts in each of the packages!
Beautiful and fun! I am so glad they had a lovely time and the tree is lovely!
With all the hustle and bustle and running around to get things done for the holidays for work and for personal life, I really appreciate this wonderful blog. It refreshes me and makes me so happy to think of the chimps having a forage of food and enrichment out there in the beautiful landscape, with caring people around them. Thank you for providing them with interesting experiences and bringing contentment to their lives. Happy Christmas Season to Everyone:) It’s so important to remember (and be reminded of) what matters most.
So sweet!