Jody has a healthy appreciation for fresh, hand-picked greens.
Recently, local volunteer Krissy has been delivering bags of primate chow to the sanctuary’s front gate. More often than not, she also leaves behind a large bin of produce from her home garden. This weekend, we added the generous assortment of leafy greens to the chimps’ lunches, which we then dispersed in Young’s Hill so that they could spend the afternoon foraging.
Most greens are cultivars of one species: cabbage. In its wild form, cabbage (Brassica oleracea) grows on the seaside cliffs of Europe. Over millennia, the domesticated variants have become a common food crop for humans around the globe. Despite their distinct grocery names, kale, collared greens, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, and Brussels sprouts are all just types of cabbage that have been shaped by artificial selection. Of course, “Farmer Jo” loves them all equally.
Today, Jo did her usual thing (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) and gathered up an impressive bundle of greens. Although it was an unusually quiet day at the sanctuary, even around the chimps, the loud crunch of woody stems filled the Greenhouse for a short while. Negra spent the early minutes of the forage collecting the grapes and chow biscuits nearest to the Greenhouse, but missed out on the kale. Upon returning, she sat behind Jody and begged for a piece. Jo ignored her, but eventually discarded enough leafless stalks to satisfy Neggie, who promptly scooped them up and waddled inside.
Compared to the usual dynamics, today’s drama was relatively tame.
Volunteer Krissy grows THE most gorgeous greens, like county fair blue ribbon gorgeous. Farmer Jo looks pleased crunching on her fibrous feast. Even Negra looks content making off with Jody’s scraps. What’s that old saying…”beggars can’t be choosers”! Oh Neggie.
Kathleen, did you get the statue!? I had my fingers crossed for you!
Anthony — thank you!! This video is just what I needed after such a hard week of losses and traumas! To see Jody so thoroughly enjoying her greens, and smacking along with gusto-noises is just what I needed for an uplift and assurance that life continues. I laughed out loud to see her lying down still smacking loudly and munching along, and Negra savoring the scraps — Seeing the chimps gives me a sense of calm and connection and joy that I’m so grateful for. Keep savoring, Jo and Neggie, and all!
I find it interesting that sometimes Negra “pulls rank” and Jody gives up her food, like in the recent “Stop Thief!” blogpost, and in some cases she begs Jody for her food, like this time. I wonder if Negra gets in a much more dominant mood sometimes, and that is the difference? What exactly happens when a chimp “pulls rank”? Thank you for all you do for these wonderful chimp-folk.
Hi, Darcy! When we say that a chimp is “pulling rank,” they’re typically using their past relationship history to coerce the other into relinquishing food. For example, Negra can just give Missy a sustained glare and poor Missy will willingly give her a chow bag just to avoid trouble. Similarly, the others know that Jamie has “dibs” on any food that gets stuck in the caging, so they don’t even bother with it. Outright fighting and robbery are rare, but subtle cues and agreed-upon hierarchies are the norm.
Thank you so much for the explanation, Anthony!
I enjoyed watching Jody assert herself vis-a-vis her “dining partner” who came to collect her share. Presumably, Neggie enjoyed her scraps…
Can we get a pant and hoot for that title! Hahaha great video:D
You’re right, Jo! I also love how perfect and creative the title of this post is but forgot to say something about it in my comments yesterday — so I’m so glad you did! Thanks, Anthony!
I could watch (and listen!) to that video all day! Such healthy eaters! I should follow suit! thank you for posting this!
What a wonderful close-up of Jody eating kale and cabbage! I loved listening to the crunch! Thank you for the lesson in greens being all in the family of cabbage. Does that include spinach?
That’s a good question. Spinach is actually its own species which was domesticated in the Middle East.