Here’s a video of Foxie enjoying a game of tug of war with Diana:
Foxie
Brachiating and swinging
Just a short video of chimps being chimps. Foxie and Missy take turns brachiating across the roof of the enclosure. Then Jamie and Missy play with one of the new fire hose swings around the recently donated culvert.
My favorite part of the video: When Diana (and the camera) get hit with a flying troll. It’s an occupational hazard here at CSNW!
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!
Foxie meets Honey B
As many of you know, Foxie likes to invite her caregivers to play with her by throwing trolls to (or at) them. Here, Foxie does the same to our chow chow, Honey B. You might notice that Foxie isn’t all playful – its as if she doesn’t know whether she should play with Honey B or display at her. So she does some of both!
The (almost) perfect drooped lip face
Here’s a picture of Foxie in the sunshine this afternoon, sporting an almost perfect example of the “drooped lip” facial expression. Of course she added her own interpretation – her tongue is helping too! 
Foxie and the boat bumper
I’ve been wanting to post this for a few days. Elizabeth and I hung one of the boat bumpers in the play room the other day and tied a troll doll to it. Foxie and Jamie were the most entertained by it, and Jody tried to pull up the boat bumper from above (smart!). The video is of Foxie “boxing.” She wasn’t upset – she mostly seemed curious and appeared to want to see if she could get the troll off of the rope. She wasn’t counting on the troll bouncing back!
Donnie’s Day
Today we’re remembering and celebrating a special person on what would have been his 62nd birthday: Donnie Pfeiffer. Donnie was the brother of one of Foxie’s most dedicated supporters, Karen Young. Since Donnie was an archaeologist, we created a special “dig site” for the chimps to celebrate his birthday. We put fresh straw in the outdoor enclosure and scattered treats so that the chimps would have to hunt for them. For more fine-tuned digging, we also put out raisin boards and big blocks of ice with cranberries, raisins, and apples frozen inside. Jamie and Missy have been working on excavating the cranberries all day. Donnie also founded the Vermont Wooden Game Company, so we gave the chimps lots of wooden toys today too. Among other things Donnie was a world adventurer, a free spirit, an animal lover, a decorated veteran, and a very dedicated brother, son, and father (to his three pups!). Happy Birthday Donnie!
