Burrito and Negra
Burrito and Negra have an interesting relationship. She seems genuinely afraid of him at times and will hide in the front rooms when he is displaying. And if there is excitement in the group, she will give him a huge submissive greeting (she will grunt loudly and present her rear end to him) as if to say “don’t take it out on me, please!”
But they also spend a lot of time grooming together, and once and a while Burrito can get Negra to laugh. Of course, he has to play Negra-style (calmly and slowly, laying down if possible), which is a stretch for Burrito. Take a look (FYI – the hissing sound you hear is me moving the pneumatic doors to let the chimps in for lunch):
Tug-of-war…upside down!
Portrait of an Artist
More adventures in the snow
Missy had her eye on a nice snowball, but she didn’t want to set foot in the snow to get it:
Foxie ventured out farther, with her troll in tow:
More snow photos…and Jamie signing?
To answer some of your questions from the previous post, both Jamie and Annie ventured all the way out yesterday. Jamie explored the entire outdoor area without stepping foot on the snow. She eventually settled in an alcove where she could sit on a dry ledge and watch the snow fall. Annie took very delicate steps across the snow to fetch some dried fruit.
Some of you may remember that Jamie signs to us occasionally. Sometimes she is clearly gesturing – in a way that other chimps don’t – but we can’t figure out what she’s trying to say. Its possible that she was taught different signs than the signs of American Sign Language that we are familiar with, or it could be that she just gets too excited to sign in a way that we can understand.
When we first opened the door to the snowy outdoor enclosure, Jamie was signing up a storm. I thought she might be asking for clothes, but when I offered her a sweatshirt, a hat, some mittens, and a scarf, she just looked frustrated. She eventually donned the winter hat and gave up on me…
Keeping Foxie Amused
As you know, Foxie is completely obsessed with trolls. Nearly every time we walk by, she passes one out to us to initiate a game. But there’s only so much you can do with a troll, right? Sooner or later, the passing-the-troll-back-and-forth game starts to get boring. Luckily, Diana is able to think outside the box. Tucking the trolls into our socks and running back and forth made Foxie so happy she had to do back flips.
