Volunteers Stephanie and Kate came to the chimp house this morning armed with a bounty of goodies (edible and non-) for a party celebrating the arrival of spring!
Annie
More enhanced enrichment puzzles
Thanks to volunteer Cari Parker, we have more enhanced enrichment puzzles. Cari’s friend Stephanie sponsored today in honor of Cari’s Birthday, so Cari sent us a box of enrichment for the occasion. Included in the box of goodies were some PVC pipe puzzles. There is a photo with an explanation in the video below.
Keeping the chimps (especially super smart Jamie) enriched is a challenge. We are always trying to come up with new puzzle ideas- and these are great! (Thanks, Cari!) If you ever have any ideas you would like to share, please email me at [email protected]
Calm
Although Annie is at the bottom of the hierarchy and has her nervous moments, for the most part, the girl knows how to relax.
Caregivers as enrichment
Let’s face it- no matter how much we do to spice up captivity with enrichment and projects, it can still get pretty boring sometimes. We try to do what ever we can to keep the chimps entertained, including simple things like drinks from the hose. The chimps have access to water 24 hours a day, but sometimes they just seem to prefer to have us “fill them up”, so to speak, instead. Chimps have prehensile lips and a large pouch in their bottom lip, so they can hold a lot of water in there! And, as always here at CSNW, they have the choice to drink or…
More grooming
Missy isn’t the only one taking care of her friends. Today was a super nice and sunny day (despite the foot of snow!) so the chimps hung out in the greenhouse for most of the day, and Annie spent some time quality time grooming her best friend, Missy.
Annie
Annie is spectacular for many reasons, but one of my favorite Annie-isms is her affinity for clasping her hands and feet together when she’s resting (any combination will do: hand-hand, foot-foot, hand-foot).
Valentine’s Day fun
Parties are so much fun here at CSNW. On today’s party menu was strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples, dried pears, bananas, beets, sunflower seeds and tons of mixed nuts. We received a plethora of decorations and new toys from our friends Dick and Robbi Brown, Felicity, Stephanie, and Kate. Food was hidden in all kinds of Valentine’s Day themed boxes, cups, and gift bags and the playroom was filled with awesome new toys, including at least 5 new Valentine’s Day troll dolls. Thanks so much everyone!
Step one= party:
Annie drinking pomegranate juice:
Jamie opening her “Valentine”:
Foxie checking out one of her new Valentine’s Day trolls:
Step 2= nap.
Negra in her festive Valentine’s Day nest:
Burrito getting in touch with his feminine side:
Needless to say, a good time was had by all! Happy Valentine’s Day!
