Volunteer Connie was telling Jackie and myself about these neat things called “infinity scarves.” They are made out of t-shirts and look pretty fashionable in my opinion. We thought the chimps might enjoy one so we decided to make one out of an old style CSNW shirt. Jackie and Connie took it into the chimp area to stretch it out and see if anyone was interested in playing. To everyone’s shock, Negra was interested in playing a game of tug-o-war. She does not play very often with caregivers, and definitely not for long periods of time. This game went on for infinity! What’s even more interesting is that Negra woke up on the wrong side of the nest today—she was a little grumpy all morning. I’m glad we were able to cheer her up!
chimp laughter
Laughing
As many of our regular blog readers know, Annie is coming out of her shell more and more. We’ve seen her become more confident and play with chimps other than Missy. Foxie seems to be someone she likes to play with, and the other day I caught them in an intense wrestling match. Their laughter was amazing! It really makes me smile so much when I think about how much Annie and the other chimps have all changed since their arrival to the sanctuary over 3 years ago. I can’t wait to see what other changes we might see in the chimps’ personalities after Young’s Hill opens!
Speaking of the ever-changing chimps, in this clip, you’ll see Annie and Foxie playing with Foxie’s new doll that I mentioned on her Facebook page. This is not a troll doll, and although it resembles a troll, it’s still great to see her expanding her usual very narrow focus on “enrichment objects worth interacting with.” As seen in this blog from just a few days ago, Foxie is well on her way to making nests with blankets! Like I said above, it’s amazing to see how the chimps have all changed and keep on changing.
Choices
Sanctuary is all about making choices. Some choose to nap, and some choose to play!
Tug-o-troll
Jamie and Foxie love to play. Today I caught them in an intense game of tug-o-war with a troll in their mouths.
Laughter
The seven chimpanzees living at CSNW are the most playful group I’ve ever met. You would think they were kids the way they play and laugh. As all of you who follow the blog know, Foxie in particular has a kid-like disposition (at least she does now that she’s in sanctuary!) Jamie, on the other hand, can often be very serious. But Foxie is able to bring out the kid in Jamie too, as you’ll see in the video below.
One interesting thing that we’ve observed is that the chimpanzees seem to play wrestle more in the front rooms than any other location within the building. Perhaps it feels like a more private location for wrestling?
