There is so much to be thankful for this year!
Sunny spirits
As Burrito continues to improve after his surgery, we have all slowly been able to take deep breaths of relief. Please enjoy these photos of the girls taking in some fresh air on Young’s Hill this morning.
Foxie and Jody
Annie
Here’s Jody with her “relaxed face and droopy lip” expression. This pretty much summarizes how I feel right now.
Wish list Wednesday!
In case you haven’t noticed, the chimpanzees consume A LOT of fresh produce.
Jody:
On top of making sure they all get enough to eat, we also try to make sure there is plenty of variety.
Negra:
Burrito:
Jody:
Annie:
Missy:
Jamie:
Foxie:
Oh and did I mention we are now filling the stomachs of 3 4 new chimps (Willy B counts as 2 😉)?
If you are interested in helping us keep our fridges stocked full of a variety of delicious produce, check out our Amazon Wish list and send the chimps a gift card to our local Safeway store!
The chimpanzees and caregivers thank you!
Mave:
The guys
Burrito and Willy B continue to work on their budding friendship!
Jamieween 2019!
Today we kept half of the chimp house pretty low key and quiet so Burrito and Willy B could continue to build their friendship. Meanwhile, the “Girl Gang” celebrated Jamie’s 42nd Birthday in their upstairs Mezzanine space. Happy Jamieween everyone!
Dolls in danger
A little background with today’s blog..
While Foxie clearly has a passion for the many dolls she owns, she sometimes has an odd way of showing it. In addition to hugging and carrying her dolls around lovingly, she also seems to use her dolls to test out unknown situations and will put them in purposeful “danger” so she can go rescue them.
This afternoon I let the “girl gang” have access to Young’s Hill through the new Phase 1 chute. All 5 girls were quickly on patrol and had to investigate Door Y which is an access point (currently closed off) to the Greenhouse. The rest of the chimps were hanging out securely in the Playroom (Willy B, Honey B, Mave and Negra) and the front rooms (Burrito while he recovers), with the Greenhouse temporarily closed off as a buffer between the groups.
Foxie just received a new pair of Strawberry Shortcake dolls today in the mail that she seems quite fond of. Of course she toted her dolls around with her while she investigated Young’s Hill:
But then when Foxie went to check out Door Y, she decided to also stick her arm through the gap under the door and place her new dolls on the decking in the Greenhouse:
While I can’t really guess her true motivation for this bold move, it’s entirely possible she just needed her dolls to “test the waters” of this strange situation. Seeing no immediate harm come to her treasured possessions, Foxie recovered her dolls and kept on with her day:
Rest and Recovery
Yesterday we made an attempt to introduce Foxie and Burrito to the existing larger group. As Diana said yesterday, it did not go quite the way we wanted it to go. Today has been a quiet day of rest, recovery and reevaluation as we come up with the plan for our next move.
Yesterday was intense and stressful for all, with many of the chimps coming away with injuries. Thankfully, we will not need to anesthetize anyone for serious medical intervention. We are monitoring everyone closely and providing any necessary oral medications. Burrito came away with the most wounds and is going to need a few days alone in the front rooms to heal. He got a visit from Willy B this afternoon (separated by caging) and was very happy to spend a little quiet time with the big guy.
As it stands now, Negra, Willy B, Mave and Honey B are together in the playroom (with greenhouse access) and the rest of the girls have moved over to the Phase 1 building.
Jamie, Foxie, Jody, Annie and Missy took a breather on Young’s Hill this morning:
Annie:
Foxie:
Jamie on patrol:
Jody:
After their hill adventure, Jamie used her new playhouse as a napping station:
