We are all so enjoying your great questions Diana invited in her blog post the other day and we’re looking forward to answering as many as we can! I had a wonderful blog planned to speak to the chimpanzees’ sleeping routines and came in early to capture them waking up. They are so endearing in the mornings, typically happy and playful as they sleepily greet the humans. Some begin slow motion chase trains around the loft in anticipation of breakfast, some choose to sleep in until it’s time to eat, Burrito is ready to play wild games of chase, Foxie troll toss/chase, and others are anxious to get outside for a pre-breakfast stroll. It’s one of my favorite times of the day really.
But if you know chimpanzees, you know it’s pretty ridiculous to “plan” anything like a blog post. *Snort* *Guffaw* I mean, what was I thinking? Literally, two seconds in the door and all ten chimpanzees were wide awake and screaming and yelling at one another, nests flying through the air. Sigh…fingers and opposable thumbs crossed for next week, folks.
That said, the day was nothing short of wondrous and magical. I saw no less than six rainbows on the way to work this morning and as soon as we headed out for a pre-breakfast walk around Young’s Hill, we looked up to see this beauty over the sanctuary:
Jamie took one look outside and one look at me and immediately flew out the doorway to Young’s Hill:
Jody, Burrito, Jamie and Missy:
Foxie chose to explore on her own (and I didn’t capture any of Negra this morning, but safe to say you may picture her under a pile of cozy new blankets with a rainbow overhead):
Annie (and I) running to catch up:
I mean this is ridiculous, but what can I say, it’s just a magical place:
Can you believe the construction progress?!
After breakfast, Jamie was practicing her “bat pose” (perhaps for Jamieween, our celebration of her upcoming Halloween birthday!):
All ten of the chimpanzees were so incredibly playful ALL day long! We saw people doing moves we’ve never seen before! Foxie did a back-flip while spraying water out of her mouth. Mave was doing pirouettes and lying on her back while spin herself ’round and ’round. Willy B was playing a game of chase while swinging across the caging. It was amazing! And this went on all day! So we figured the only way to end such a joyful day was to have spaghetti dinner. Naturally. 😉
Now it’s a rare treat to serve the chimpanzees spaghetti and while we know the seven love it (it’s a common menu item for Burrito’s birthday), we anticipated the three, who tend to be a little distrustful of new food items, would most likely toss it on the ground at first sight so I prepared a backup dinner for them. But we wanted to give them the option to try it out and much to our surprise and delight, they LOVED it!! If you’re not sitting down for these photos Chad captured, now’s your chance to do so:
Willy B:
Mave:
And HONEY B!!:
Well, I look forward to picking up where I left off next time, but there’s a high wind advisory happening and the wind is not disappointing in that category. The chimpanzees are all tucked into their nests for the night safe and sound, warm and cozy, bellies full of spaghetti. I am going to get myself home and replicate that I think. Have a wondrous, magical, restful night (or day) wherever you may be. And keep any questions coming (while bearing with us on the responses – we really are looking forward to it)!
