One of the most important aspects of sanctuary life is variety. And one of the most exciting times for chimpanzees is mealtime. Our staff and volunteers delight in creating dinners that are always a little different. The food grunts and squeaks that the chimpanzees make are a pretty good reward for the effort, I’d say.
forage
Grass forages and family photos
We recently discovered that the chimps are crazy about grass. Today we picked some fresh grass from the pasture on the grounds and spread it in the chimpanzees’ outdoor enclosure. Here are some pictures of Annie and Jody enjoying the forage. Unfortunately, the pictures were not able to capture Annie’s delighted food squeaks.
And here are a couple of pictures of JB serving lunch outside yesterday. The second one is a complete family photo!
Dinner with Jody
Many of you know that Jamie often eats her dinner with a spoon. Did you know that Jody does too? Tonight, Jody used a spoon in her own special way to eat her oatmeal and applesauce. I love that she looks right into the camera in this clip!
Those helpful opposable toes
For dinner, Elizabeth set out a lovely forage of bowls of creamy wheat cereal (aka farina) with fresh strawberries as well as whole apples. We’ve been getting a LOT of apples lately, so Elizabeth and I decided to set out three for each chimpanzee. Missy got it just right. Those opposable toes really do come in handy when you want to keep a grip on your two back-up fruit!
Today was the first day I had seen the chimps since the big fight and I was AMAZED at how quickly injuries are healing. Chimpanzees are darn tough – phsyically and in spirit. They would have to be to be able to survive everything that they have been through in their lives. Burrito and Missy spent a lot of time grooming, and Burrito displayed a couple of times during the day. So, things seem to be returning to the status quo.
I was talking to the chimps’ friend Margie the day of the fight, and she compared the chimps’ fighting and quick making-up to how some big human families interact – screaming matches one minute and sitting down to dinner the next 🙂
Frozen Watermelon Day
Meals for the chimpanzees are served in the front rooms, but we figure it’s important to have changes and surprises amidst the routine, so we set up a frozen watermelon forage in the playroom after breakfast this morning. Sarah had frozen some watermelon with a long tube sticking out and tied it to the caging of the barn doors. When Burrito discovered it, he produced some of the most unreal food squeaks I’ve ever heard! Check out the video below. Oh, and speaking of surprises, we’re really excited about Sunday’s party for the chimps!! Thank you to everyone who got toys for the chimpanzees, and needed items for the humans to take care of them, off of the Target and Amazon wish lists.
Dinner Forage
The chimps love forages. Rather than serving food hand to mouth or through the food chutes, we like to occasionally set out all of the food in the front rooms before the chimps come in for their meal. They get to watch us set everything up, and the anticipation makes the meal all the more enjoyable. When they are finally let in, they search through all of the bowls, buckets and boxes for their favorite foods. Here you can see (from left to right) Annie, Missy and Burrito munching on lettuce, frozen oranges and herbal tea (many thanks to the Cle Elum Safeway and Roslyn Natural Market for donating produce). Listen for the food grunts – a signal that they are enjoying the meal. J.B.
