Burrito is often intimidated by new things, so while we all had high hopes, we never really expected him to explore Young’s Hill all too much (fun fact: almost ALL the caregivers wore Burrito shirts on day one of letting the chimpanzees out onto the hill. That was not planned– but a great way to cheer him on apparently, as he went right out when the door was opened!). He has completely surprised all of us and is surprisingly comfortable out there, though has never ventured too far away from the safety of the greenhouse. But as Diana mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, Burrito spent some significant time out there foraging and exploring areas we haven’t seen him explore yet, including the bamboo and the furthest climbing structure. The interesting thing is that Jamie was the one leading the way for him! While I wouldn’t call them enemies, I also wouldn’t call them the best of friends either. Jamie often picks on Burrito and treats him like her annoying little brother, so it was really nice to see that yesterday Jamie decided to treat him like a buddy.
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Brave Burrito, Cute Foxie, Smart Jamie
The video in this post shows the smartness of Jamie and the cuteness of Burrito and Foxie. Burrito, by the way, was a brave explorer again today on Young’s Hill. We came in early to let the chimps out on the hill while it was still pretty cool outside. Burrito went exploring for quite a while – on his own and with Jamie. It’s interesting to see Jamie and Burrito together, because they are definitely not the closest of friends.
OK, first a photo of Burrito.
And now the video, which was taken later, after we cleaned the playroom and set out the enrichment for the day:
Burrito and his popper toy
All the chimps have been in great moods today! (Check out the status update I posted this morning on our Facebook timeline).
Burrito spent probably an hour non-stop playing with this popper toy. He kept pushing it—with his hands and even on his head! He sat on it, carried it around with him, and seemed to be really enjoying himself. It was pretty hard to focus on getting the front rooms clean when we had to pause every couple minutes to laugh and be goofy with him.
Showing us how it’s done
Jamie always seems to want to be in the middle of the action- no matter what that action is. If you are friends with us on Facebook, you probably saw the post from a couple of weeks ago about Jamie and the staff meeting. Elizabeth and I were in the greenhouse brainstorming with a clipboard, pen, and paper. Jamie came over and asked us for the pen, so we gave her one. She then pulled up a chair, flattened her paper out on a flat surface, and joined us. We sat there for quite some time discussing various staff-only related topics.
And that’s very typical Jamie behavior. She often mimics us and wants to be involved in whatever we are doing– even if we are just cleaning.
Foxie and Burrito play
Jackie caught Foxie and Burrito being pretty silly the other day, paparazzi style.
Luau!
Yesterday, we threw the chimps a Luau! Volunteer Steph and I have been planning it for a couple of months now and she went shopping and got so much cute stuff! There were 5 adorable pinatas (including a mermaid, a dolphin, a tiki man, a toucan, and a sun), a giant palm tree, fishing nets, leis, and tons of festive cups for tropical drinks. She went waaay over the top with this party– and it was perfect!
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been collecting all the Luau-like troll dolls and Doras too
Thankfully, the chimps were just as enriched as we were!
Jamie:
Burrito:
Negra:
Foxie:
Jody:
Missy:
Negra and Annie focused heavily on the peanuts in the pinatas:
Once the tropical juice was all gone, the Luau spilled out onto Young’s Hill. Jamie was so excited about the pineapple:
Foxie explored the hill and collected chow with her new Dora
Annie
Jamie
Steph also brought banana blossoms, which Jody thoroughly enjoyed but Annie found one on the hill. She looked pretty proud of herself!
Thanks so much for bringing Hawaii to the chimps, Steph!
Ants on a Log
Volunteers Steph and Sara made ants on a log for the chimps’ lunch today. It was a big hit. (Seven out of seven chimpanzees agree that the appropriate method for tackling ants on a log is to lick off the peanut butter and raisins first, and go back for the celery later.)
Missy:
Jamie:
Jody:
