I wanted to share a fun little story from this morning! As I gave Annie’s group Young’s Hill, everyone including Negra rushed out. Once Anna brought breakfast out to the greenhouse all the chimps were heading back in to eat, except Annie. We couldn’t find Annie anywhere. It had been more than 10 minutes of breakfast being served and she was nowhere in sight. Annie does not miss a meal! Sofia came over to help do checks when I said I think Annie is on the Hill, but we can’t see her anywhere. Sofia told us she did this yesterday, but eventually came back for breakfast. We finally got a glimpse of her 15 minutes into breakfast, she was far up on the top of the Hill foraging for what I assume was grass or some kind of foliage. Apparently, that grass was so good she didn’t even come back for breakfast! Breakfast was not a concern for Annie, because when she finally returned and Anna tried to call her over for food, she very contently laid back on the platform in the greenhouse and took a little nap.
Today was a beautiful spring day so we took advantage of the weather and did a Hill forage for lunch!
Don’t worry Annie got plenty of food!
But Missy seemed to score the most!
Negra was quite pleased with her haul! She even worked pretty hard for her food too, look at Neggie on the Esher structure!
Jody with a mouth full of corn and hands full of forage!
Jamie collected her forage and then took all of it to a secluded hammock to eat alone.
Burrito cradling an arm full of onions:
Little Foxie was having a great day roaming around the Hill and hanging out with friends!
Bonus Photos!
Rayne was asleep in a cozy nest up on one of the leaves in the Marmot Room.
And sweet Dora was hangout in the window ledge watching her caregivers cleaned her playroom.
Lol, Neggie should have a shirt that says “will work for sweet corn”! :laughing:
This is the best! Evidence that she, at least, understands her freedoms and ability to make decisions for herself! And even Negra finding the energy to go out on her own behalf. Such personalities they all have. Great job, Annie and Neggie!
What a great day on the hill, and I’m so glad Negra got out there too! As for Annie, she is always so amazing to me and I’m glad she got some sweet grass!
Oh Kelsi, thanks for this delightful post today and a special thank you for all the photos! Annie and her continued growth and metamorphosis into the independent individual she is today is just so inspiring. So I will also thank you one more time for patiently allowing her to find herself, on her own terms, in her own time. I just love thinking about Annie up on Young’s Hill all by herself. I hope she wasn’t devouring all of Negra’s favorite fresh spring grass! 🙂
Neggie on the Esher structure! Love that photo. Rayne and Dora too….and Foxie, and Burrito, and Jamie, and Jody…..and Missy…..well, you get the idea.
Scary, kinda like when you lose your child in the store. I’m glad she was happily chomping on some good grass.
Oh the weather looks fabulous today! And I love love love seeing Missy in mid air! I’m so happy for all of them today, and every day in your care.
I love that you all spend time making eating, and life in general, an adventure for the chimps. They certainly
“hit the jack pot” when they were sent to you!! Thank you for improving the life of the chimps I know from the
past. They look so happy and content!!
So awesome to hear that Annie foraged for her own breakfast and it was enough to satisfy her!
And that she wasn’t frightened to be out in the grass alone!
Spring joys! Sun, foraging, food, lounging — all the good things in life. It’s so heartwarming to see Neggie up on the structure and to think about how far she’s come in all the years. Well, all of them actually, but some more than others. So many more outdoors adventures to come as the weather continues to improve. Thanks for these great pics today (well, every day)!!!.