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!
Jamie
Spring!
Finally! Here are a few shots of the chimps enjoying the beautiful weather. It’s been right in Negra’s “sweet spot” – between 65 and 75 degrees – so she’s been outside a lot.
We had a forage outside for lunch – lots of broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers. The last photo is of Foxie with a “whimper face”. I’m not sure what she was whimpering about; she probably lost one of her trolls for a moment.
Jamie’s dexterity
Jamie LOVES it when we give her a ball point pen. I love her pen ritual – it’s as though she needs to collect a certain shopping list of things before she can begin writing. You can almost see her planning in her head. She’ll take the pen, pause while she scans the play room, and then walk around to collect what she needs. Sometimes it’s a blanket, or a stool, and a certain toy. Today she needed a blanket, an address book, and a scarf with a troll doll attached. There’s been so much talk about how strong chimps can be – but think about the gentle, fine movements required to draw with a pen!
How to ruin a perfectly good scarf
Step 1: Find someone with a perfectly good scarf.
Step 2: Chase them down.
Step 3: Grab hold of the scarf and don’t let go.
Step 4: If you aren’t able to ruin it by yourself, enlist a friend.
Step 5: If necessary, tear at it with your fingers.
Step 6: Repeat steps 3 and 4.
Your scarf should now look like this:
Foxie and Jamie
Foxie and Jamie have been so playful together lately. Not that we don’t love playing with Foxie, but it’s even better to see her playing with other chimps.
Grooming with tools
Jamie likes using tools so much she invents reasons to use them. Here Jamie is trying to groom Diana’s broken fingernail with a plastic wrench:
Bad weather, happy chimps
The chimps have been in very good moods lately, despite this late winter snow storm. Sometimes when they’re too cooperative, and they’re not spitting and banging at us at all, I get suspicious…
This morning, when Elizabeth and I went in to say good morning to the chimps, Foxie passed two small trolls to me and proceeded to do a dozen pirouettes and at least as many backflips. Missy and Jody both wore makeshift garter belts for a good part of the day (I think one of them was a scrunchy). I managed to catch a few more of the day’s activities on camera:
