Negra was kind enough to let me take photos of her while she thought about lunch, got impatient about lunch, shouted at the kitchen staff about lunch, became overwhelmed at the sight of lunch, turned giddy in anticipation of eating lunch, and – at long last – ate lunch. It was a harrowing 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
A side note: I thought this would be a good opportunity to educate our readership about the somewhat arcane primatological term bed shoulder, which is a trait exhibited by a small number of apes that roll out of bed just before meals. Often accompanied by bed head unless cranial pelage is lacking.
Negra you are such a beautiful lady! I hope you enjoyed every bit of your lunch!
I believe Negra knows exactly what she is doing and she is studying you as much as you are studying her…..”what can I get away with today..? what will it take to get her to cry in frustration…? how hungry do I have to get before I stop playing this game…?…”
Oh J.B. . . . what wonderful subtext of the activities… I too have had harrowing 2 minute and 45 second spans while waiting for mySELF to finish preparing dinner. NOTE to SELF: Shout at yourself while anticipating – it will make the giddiness even greater when the long anticipated event is upon you. 🙂 Thanks for the great photos and the giggles!
I pushed dinner too long, it’s 8:15, and I have another harrowing 15 minutes to go before I eat! 😀
Hey, she’s beautiful to us even without cranial pelage! Don’t they say “sans cranial pelage is sexy”!? Let’s see what you say in 15 yrs, lol!
I love how The Queen has “her” seat at lunch: I’ve even seen her (recently) gently push someone off that seat, lol! Work that seniority, Queen!
I have seen bed head, bed neck, and I believe even a few bed backs amongst the seven, but this bed shoulder is new to me. Leave it to HRH Negra to sport this look with style and grace.
I am assuming you were serving up some of Negra’s favorite delicacies?! You are so funny J.B. Thanks for the play by play to accompany your photos (fantastic photos by the way!). Dear Negra, she has her priorities set. Lunch, chow bags, blanket nest, sleep, wake for next meal……repeat.
I always treasure looking at pictures and videos of Negra, especially when she appears happy. I find her particularly endearing. I hope that she and Jody were finally able to come to a compromise to take turns on which of them gets to gather the most blankets for a nest…
Thank you J.B. , great photo’s.
To me it looks as if Negra knows what you are doing and decided to give you exactly what you want.
She looks right into your soul when she looks straight into the camera.
Had to look at these magnificent photos again while sipping my morning cup of coffee. I LOVE this series!
If you love Negra with all your heart raise your hand!
Raising my hand!
I’m happily raising BOTH hands to make my point that I certainly DO love Neggie…I’m growing old myself, & feel a certain ‘sisterhood’ with the dear girl…grins
\?/
I was desperate for a respite from my work day when I noticed this email had come in. JB, you’ve outdone yourself! I stood in the middle of a public workspace chuckling along and then just had to laugh out loud both at the way you phrased the process and at the photos and Neggie’s expressions. Thank you, JB and all caregivers — not only for the remarkable care you provide the chimp people, but also for the care you give us “out here” in chimpland.
A great blog in 4 sentences. Julio Cortázar would be proud
That was good for a great laugh! Precious Negra and the love of lunch. Thanks again for another great update.