Foxie took an up close and personal look at the Go Pro Camera the other day.
Animal Welfare
A quiet moment
Jody’s still recovering from her birthday revelry. Jackie just caught her in a quiet moment with a troll doll on the bench in one of the front rooms.
Motivation
As many of you probably already know, Negra hasn’t been going out on Young’s Hill much since last fall. Obviously, we cannot ever truly get inside of the chimps’ heads, and I’m sure Negra’s lack of interest in the hill is due to many different factors. I imagine 35 years in a small laboratory cage would make 2 acres seem extremely intimidating (it is intimidating!) plus we know she isn’t much of a fan of cold weather, so lately she has preferred to hang out in front of the chimp-proof glass windows in the Playroom with a blanket over her head (who can blame her when it’s that cold really?). But with the warmer weather and the vibrant fresh grass, she’s found just enough motivation to get herself out there, even if just for a minute.
Negra in her transfer cage en route to CSNW in 2008:
Negra today:
In the grass
Over the last 3 (almost 4!) years, we’ve had tons of blog posts about grass forages (in case you haven’t heard, the Cle Elum Seven love to eat grass!). Oddly enough, the first blog post about grass forages was on May 1, 2009 (almost exactly 3 years ago from today). What’s awesome is that we no longer have to set up a grass “forage” (unless we want to) because the chimps get to harvest it themselves on Young’s Hill. And that’s exactly what they did today. I wasn’t able to catch any photos of her, but even Negra went out a couple of times grabbing big handfuls of grass to take in the Greenhouse.
Burrito:
Jody:
Jamie:
Foxie:
Foxie greeting Jody:
Lounging with trolls
Nothing like some sunshine and a handful of trolls to make you just want to lay back and relax.
Delicate Jamie
Sometimes Jamie can be quite destructive, with her great displays that show her domination, and her investigations of enrichment. So in contrast, I really love how delicate she looks with this small cherry tomato in these pictures from the other day. (I also really love the amazingly vibrant green grass in the background!)
The Queen of Relaxation
If Negra is the Queen of the Cle Elum Seven, Jody is the Queen of Nest Building and Relaxation.
Jody is hands down the best nest builder I know. She is definitely an artist about it, and will often use as many as 20-30 blankets. We put out tons of new straw and alfalfa hay in the greenhouse yesterday, so Jody forewent the blankets and made herself an amazing nest right on the ground.
