This is one of my favorite sights: Jody gathering blankets for one of her huge, elaborate nests.
Jody
Intruder
While no match for equatorial Africa, living in rural Cle Elum does afford the chimpanzees some interesting experiences. The other day a garter snake made its way into the chimp house, and the chimps let their feelings on the matter be known.
Jody and her sunflower
Diana got some close-up footage the other day of Jody eating a sunflower from our garden. Notice how quickly Jody is able to shell the seeds with her prehensile lips.
Jamie in repose
Our enrichment theme for today is “Jody Day.” Why should Jody have to wait for her birthday to get all of her favorite things? So we put out lots of blankets and straw for nests, cattails, fresh produce from the garden, sunflowers, and buckets of soapy water. All the chimps seemed to enjoy their Jody day. Here’s a picture I snapped of Jamie reclining amidst the straw and cattails. I love how she’s holding up her right elbow with her left foot!
The Party Police
We sometimes (lovingly) refer to Jamie as “the party police”. It’s as if Jamie doesn’t want anyone to have too much fun, especially not without her. Usually her aggression is directed at the humans, like when we’re playing “pass the troll” with Foxie, but occasionally it’s directed at the other chimps.
Lazy Play
Chimpanzee play isn’t always rambunctious. Here’s a video of Foxie and Jody having a lazy morning play session.
It’s harvest time!
Despite the less than desirable season, the garden was once again a success this year. We’ve had many a meal that was exclusively from our garden- for example, I served cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions at lunch, and every bit was from the chimps’ own soil. What a special feeling!
We’ve also had an abundance of sunflowers, so I cut several today for the chimps. Some were a bit unsure, but Missy and Jody were especially excited. Negra put hers down and immediately asked for grass instead, but eventually decided they weren’t so bad.