After the party

The day after a party means different things for different people. For the chimpanzees, it means continuing to enjoy any leftover treats, especially anything that may have been missed during a Young’s Hill forage, and general lolling about to rest and recover.

Even Negra went out first thing to look for leftovers from the Easter bunny:

Annie and Foxie:

Missy:

For the humans, the day after a party means party clean-up! Also for the chimpanzees, it means the humans not bothering them with cleaning details. So you may see the dilemma. For the humans, not the chimps. 😉  Case in point, we have been attempting to access and clean the party room, aka the greenhouse, all weekend. Multiple times a day we’ve offered the chimps all manner of exciting opportunities to vacate the greenhouse and enjoy a forage, a treat, a piece of gum in the playroom. Every single time there has been a lot of running back and forth, in and out, and then just as you think everyone has agreed to come inside for a few minutes, there is one person holding steadfast in their choice to decline the humans’ invitation.

Which lately has been this tiny lady:

Along with the support of her good friend, Jody:

I’m not going to lie. We pulled out all the stops. Despite an exciting forage going on in the playroom, here Foxie sat with her dolls in the toasty hot, after-party mess of a greenhouse. I offered, “Chow (a Foxie favorite!!)?” “No, thank you.”….”Half a banana?” “No thank you.” It was then that I got it. If she was turning down some of her favorites, she was truly content exactly where she was. And it no longer became important to try and get in to clean at that time. There’s always after dinner…maybe.

In the end, I fully appreciate that the chimpanzees get this agency over their lives, to choose when and where they want to move to and what they want to participate in. The joy they receive from enrichment such as parties and the pleasure that lingers afterward, or just the contentment that comes with relaxing in a warm greenhouse on a sunny spring day makes any effort on our parts more than worth the effort. And who knows, maybe they are just doing a little “caregiver enrichment” in making us think a little more creatively, outside the box. 😉

And a bonus photo! One of our fabulous volunteers took the unbelievable time and care to make the amazing Easter baskets the chimps had yesterday. Burrito found them to be useful for all manner of shenanigans:

And oh! A bonus bonus photo! We DID make it to the greenhouse to clean while the chimps enjoyed an extra exciting dinner forage and grab bags for enrichment. Jamie was late to dinner when I noticed her searching for some reading material. A food magazine. Which she carried through dinner. The chimps are all curled into their night nests as I write this and I just glanced through the window, surprised to see busy boss lady, Jamie, who is usually still up when we leave for the night, already at rest for the evening. And then I noticed her reading material. She is a surprise and a delight every.single.day.