I have been periodically looking at these photos of Jody on the computer in the chimp house throughout the day today. They just fill my heart with love for her.
All of the chimpanzees are so different from one another in so many ways and each one has qualities that pull you into their personalities.
I admire the way that Jody approaches life in a self-assured way and knows what she wants out of any given situation. She often does her own thing with her confident flair, but at the same time she’s the watchful den-mother of the group.
She has the greatest vocalizations – her happy chimpanzee low-moan we refer to as her “dinosaur noises” because they are so drawn out, and she is the most likely to give a good-night grunt from her nest at the end of the day.
Her big round eyes seem capable of taking in more than anyone’s, and there’s almost always a glimmer of hope or anticipation in them.
The lovely Jody! What a sweetheart!
When the chimps arrived 10 years ago, they each latched on to one favorite thing. Jody began each day doing yoga on a big ball. Check out the illustration in A Chimpanzee Tale. No wonder she is wise and serene!??
Perhaps that is her secret 🙂
I just love her face. She’s always been my favorite. Goodnight grunt is adorable
It’s appropriate that she’s your favorite since one of her nicknames is Jojo 🙂
Just seeing the photos you share we are able to see the differences and charm of each chimp. They do have their own personality. Thanks to your pictures we get to enjoy them.
We love them too!
Beautiful observations and reflections Diana ~ thank you so much!! Appreciate you all more than I can express! Love and hugs to you all…..
Thank you for the comment, JoAnn!
beautiful windows to her soul. I have some very happy, heart-filled tears. thank you for sharing jody and the other chimp-people with all of us.
Thank you for caring, Lisa!
Oh Diana, this is lovely. Jody’s eye are exactly as you describe! I think I would melt if I heard her offering a Goodnight Bedtime Grunt. That is so sweet. You should try to capture her dinosaur sounds in a video for all of us to hear. Jody is even more precious than I ever imagined…..??
We do have a “video” of the good night grunts: https://chimpsnw.org/2010/10/nest-grunts/ I’m sure we have her dinosaur noises recorded somewhere, but my quick search of the website didn’t turn it up. We’ll have to make it a point to try to capture her happy dinosaur noises again sometime soon!
Where does one begin to consider the beauty of Ms. Jody Chimpanzee? One sees her beautiful coat of black fur and the white muzzle on her chin. There is the look on her face when her bottom lip hangs loose (and the top of her ears seem to bend towards her head) when she seems happy. And her amber-tinted eyes mesmerize as portals into her soul.
All these features are beautiful (mitigating factor: she shares living quarters with six other beautiful people). Yet the source of the beauty of Jody is her indomitable spirit. Missy, Annie, Negra, Burrito, Jamie, and Foxie couldn’t ask for a better den mother. Indeed, the CSNW couldn’t ask for better residents (or their human attendants).
You know her so well, Tobin! It is her indomitable spirit that is the source of Jody’s beauty.
What a lovely description of such a content and sensitive chimp. I just love the way you speak about the chimps and their various personalities. Although I would love to come and visit them, you make it so easy to feel as if I am really there. Thank you so much.
Louise – thank you for saying that! Our main goal with the blog is to make people really get to know the chimpanzees in a personal way, so it so wonderful for to hear that you feel that way. Thank you for following them!
Jody is adorable and has the best smile.
Agreed!