chimpanzee retirement
Another relaxing day for Jody
CSNW’s bundle of energy
Missy has done nothing but crack me up all day today! I posted a short version of the following story on Missy’s Facebook page this morning, but I thought I would share it here as well. When I arrived this morning, I was first greeted by Negra, who was sitting in her nest in her normal spot on the catwalk. With her blanket over her head, she looked over at me and gave me an approving head nod. At first, I thought everyone else was outside, but then I noticed someone else covered in blankets in the loft. All I could see was the top of their head so I really wasn’t sure who it was, and it was a bright and sunny morning, so it seemed strange that someone would still be in bed. After a couple of attempts at getting them to respond, I asked “Who goes there?” and Missy came flying out of her nest and began a rambunctious chase game with me. We made several laps around the chimp house, and then, just as fast as she jumped out of her nest, she dove face-first back into her nest, and did a headstand. She stayed in her headstand for several minutes laughing and playing with a toy and then jumped out and began chasing me again. And this is how she has been all day long. I couldn’t ask for a better play partner!
Jody’s Birthday Spa Day
A lot of good people came together to pull off an awesome birthday/mother’s day bash for our Jody Chimpanzee! As always, two of the best chimp shoppers I know, Dick and Robbi Brown, brought gift bags full of new toys and decorations, long-time supporter Tamela sent us a donation to make sure the chimps had lots of yummy food, and volunteers Katelyn and Stephanie topped everything off with their awesome party ideas and additions!
Last week, I did some brainstorming with Katelyn and Stephanie, and we decided to make the day a “Spa Day”. Jody loves to lounge- we even recently caught her doing some serious lounging in the sandbox. She spends a lot of her time making very elaborate nests of 25 blankets or more and dives in them face first with a loud “ahh” sound (you may have heard us call this her dinosaur noise). Katelyn and Stephanie brought all the right ingredients for a spa day, including super-soft robes, magazines, slippers, eye pillows, plastic wine glasses, two big fluffy pillows and blankets. As if that isn’t enough, my new favorite florist, Terra Bella Flowers, an organic florist in Seattle, donated some food-grade quality roses for the chimps’ party. It was a girly, girly day! (sorry, you’re outnumbered, Mr. B!)
The following is a short video of some clips from the party, but see the photos below for the good stuff!
Annie going through a gift bag from Dick and Robbi Brown:
Burrito enjoying his mini bok choy
Foxie sending her mama love to her new troll baby:
Jody LOVED the banana blossoms! I had never heard of them before, but she was thrilled!
Terra Bella Flowers made Jody’s day with the roses they donated! She sat here with me the whole time I passed them out. I was even letting her pick out the ones she wanted out of the bunch. She is the birthday girl and all!
Negra enjoying her Terra Bella Rose:
Katelyn and Stephanie also bought a couple of pillows, which Jody spent some quality time with (once all the food and flowers were gone, of course!)
Thanks so much to volunteers Katelyn, Stephanie, and Grace; Dick and Robbi; Tamela; and Terra Bella Florist for making Jody’s day so special! Happy Mama’s Day to all the mama’s out there!
Bamboo
We have a couple of small bamboo plants that we have been keeping in the human area of the greenhouse, and we’ve discovered that the chimps, especially Annie, love it just as much as grass! Annie will make raspberry sounds and point to it, just begging for us to give her more!
The other day she discovered that not only is it fun to eat:
…but it’s also fun to watch yourself eat it:
I can’t wait to see this girl on Young’s Hill!