Missy has been especially playful today (even by Missy standards). Jody and Annie have been good about humoring her (as you’ll see in the video), but even during those moments when no one else is up to a game, Missy has found a way to entertain herself. At various times today, we’ve caught her taking a flying leap from the deck outside wearing a huge playface or playing chase with an invisible partner.
chimp enrichment
Jody’s giant nest
One of our volunteers brought a giant roll of paper for the chimps (thanks David!), and with it, Jody created one of the greatest nests of all time.
Negra
It’s been so exciting to watch the chimps enjoy the greenhouse these past few days. Today was completely overcast, with temperatures in the upper 30’s for most of the day. Even so, it’s about 60 degrees in the greenhouse, and the chimps have been out there all day.
Even Negra has abandoned her usual spot on the play room catwalk to make nests outside. This is more than we could have hoped for.
In fact, the greenhouse has created a new problem for us. As I write this, at 5:30, I am waiting for Jamie to come back inside so I can close the door for the night (the greenhouse does get cold at night). But she doesn’t seem to care how late I have to stay 🙂 What a good problem to have!
Lunch in the sun
Diana and I took some photos this afternoon while the chimps enjoyed a lunch forage outside. It was great to see Burrito enjoying the sunshine.
Negra stuffed as many onions in her mouth as she could and headed back to the play room.
Jamie went after the brussels sprouts, but apperantly not before contemplating them first.
She also spent some time dipping her onions in buckets of water, and then pouring the water from one container into another. This is typical Jamie. She has such an active mind, and she will often make projects for herself to keep busy.
Love Day!
The chimp’s had a fantastic Valentine’s Day party! Two of our supporters, Robbi and Dick Brown, brought TONS of fabulous new toys including books, stuffed animals, a plastic shopping cart, new troll dolls, scarves, socks, and a red feather boa. We filled gift bags of various new toys and wrapped the rest in red wrapping paper. Stephanie Perciful, our morning volunteer, brought tons of goodies as well, including food, decorations, and a lips-shaped pinata! The theme of the day- RED! Almost all the food was red- including strawberries, raspberries, red bell peppers, peaches, red pears, plums, apples, and pear juice in cute little bottles Stephanie brought. Elizabeth put a few raspberries and strawberries in decorative muffin cups (beautiful touch!) and put bite sized pieces of fruit in festive bags that we scattered and hung from various places in the playroom. The chimps were SO excited! The playroom was decorated to the max! Thanks so much to Dick, Robbi, Stephanie and Shelley, Margaret, and Karen! You guys put on quite the party! Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to put a video together today, but I’ve posted a sneak peek of the food. I promise more to come tomorrow… 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day!
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Foxie and her adorable toes
Foxie frequently rubs her toes together. I don’t think we’ve shared any video of this on the blog before. It is one of Foxie’s many endearing habits.
Tool modification
A few weeks ago, before J.B.’s recent post on tool use, I took several minutes of video of Jamie attempting to get a piece of chow just out of reach in the front rooms. I condensed the video a bit to show the highlights. There are a couple of things that Jamie does in the video that just make her all-around cool as well as demonstrate the intelligence of chimpanzees.
