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.
Jamie
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:
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.
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:
Happy 4th!
The chimps have had a great party today! The weather has been awesome– right now, it’s 70 degrees and it’s completely wind-less (a rarity these days!). This morning, we set up a huge forage on Young’s Hill- plums, grapes, peanuts, and chow, and the highlight– frozen grapefruit bowls. Last week, I had the idea to cut grapefruit in half and freeze juice and berries inside the peel, and a few days later, volunteers Seana, Lisa and Denice went to work and made it happen! They looked so delicious! Thanks so much for pulling that one off, ladies! The chimps loved them!
Foxie:
Missy:
Jamie collected the majority, of course:
and was very dedicated to the cause:
Annie collected an enormous mouthful of chow!
Last week, we asked our blog readers what they thought we should do for the 4th of July party. We received some great ideas! One was from Sara, who suggested “Firecracker Poppers” (toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper, filled with peanuts, and the ends tied with ribbon. Volunteer CJ and I made these yesterday and they turned out so cute! But I unfortunately wasn’t able to get any photos. So, volunteer Julie is here now and is going to make the chimps’ evening nightbags out of them. Thanks for the cute idea, Sara!
Elizabeth was inspired by blog commenter Annie N’s suggestion to make popsicles, so she froze juice inside Dixie Cups with little popsicle sticks. Again, the chimps were thrilled! Thanks for the idea, Annie!
Missy:
Negra was the most excited about these. While everyone else was exploring for goodies on the hill, she stayed in the greenhouse to have a party of her own– a 4th fit for a Queen!
Field Roast hot dogs have become a CSNW 4th of July tradition. Volunteer Patti brought Field Roast Frankfurters, ketchup, and mustard so we could serve them for lunch. The chimps love Field Roast! They truly savored each and every bite.
Jamie:
Negra ate the bread first
before enjoying the hot dog:
Even Burrito took the tiniest little bites of his hot dog to make it last longer! You don’t see that every day!
Along with making the Firecracker Popper Nightbags mentioned above, Volunteer Julie has also been hard at work making another frozen treat for dinner- limes cut in half and filled with red gatorade (to look like watermelon)! The “seeds” are sunflower seeds!
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
Jamie’s adventures on the hill
J.B. got some really amazing photos of Jamie’s adventures on the hill today.
And after all that hard work, she got to take a minute to enjoy the beautiful view from the top of the hill.
