Foraging is all about strategy.
You start by evaluating each type of food. Watermelon: sweet, refreshing, can be consumed quickly. Corn: Delicious but time-consuming, gets stuck in your teeth. Primate chow: satisfies those carb cravings but leaves your mouth too dry to eat anything else. Lettuce: great palette-cleanser but not much bang for the buck.
Next you survey the landscape. Walking long distances requires time and energy so you’ve got to do the math. Just spitballing here but I’d say a watermelon at 200 yards is worth two corns within arm’s reach.
And finally, you need to understand the competition. Foxie’s got bad knees, so you can outrun her. But be careful, Missy will fight you for an ear of corn.
Then the moment arrives. The door opens and two acres of 4th of July forage lay before you.
The gang sets off to the far corners of Young’s Hill in a quest to stuff themselves silly.
Wait! Oh, no. As usual, Negra has been distracted by the first piece of lettuce she saw. Keep your eyes on the prize, Negra!
While the others race by her, she bites gingerly from her slice of iceberg, oblivious to all the awaits her.
Meanwhile, Jody and Missy each race to claim a stump covered in watermelon slices.
Jamie swiftly climbs to the top of the cabin for more corn.
Missy reaches the pinnacle of the Escher climbing structure to capture the watermelon atop the tallest post.
Meanwhile, Negra wonders if it can get any better than this. Warm sun, cool breeze, and a quarter head of iceberg lettuce.
Burrito races from structure to structure with his bounty…
…pausing only briefly at a vantage point from which he can survey the area for more treasure.
Missy scampers across the shaky bridge from Carlene’s Tower to Jamie’s Tower…
…and returns with more food than a single chimpanzee should be able to carry.
Jody is up to her ears in watermelon.
Annie’s up to her eyes in ears of corn.
And Burrito is attempting to walk and chew watermelon at the same time.
All the while, Negra happily savors her slice of lettuce. They just don’t grow lettuce like this anymore, do they?
Back in the greenhouse, Jody takes a much needed break from being upright.
And Jamie works to polish off her corn and lettuce. While I personally swear by typewriter style, Jamie eats around the full circumference before working her way down the cob.
Luckily for Negra, Jamie didn’t finish all of her corn. Negra later returned to the Greenhouse, emitting a sound somewhere between a whimper and an alarm call, as if she had seen a snake. As the gang turned to her to see what was wrong, Negra swiped an ear of corn from Jamie’s feet and waltzed into the Playroom. It’s good to be the Queen.