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.
Jody
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!
Kale:
Leeks:
Strawberries:
Green Zebra Tomatoes:
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.
Negra enjoying a sunflower:
Missy:
Jody:
Monkeying Around
I was commenting the other day about how many stories in the media about chimpanzees use some sort of monkey reference, often the term “monkeying around.”
This generally irritates primatologists, partly because it’s just silly and the stories themselves often are not, but mostly because chimpanzees are NOT monkeys. Chimpanzees are great apes like gorillas, orangutans, bonobos and humans. I might as well add that gibbons are called “lesser apes” and they are not monkeys either. There are a few distinct differences between apes and monkeys, the most notable physical difference is the tail – monkeys have them, apes do not.
When I was watching Foxie, Missy and Jody in the outdoor area today, though, I had to admit that “monkeying around” is pretty much exactly how I would describe what they were doing…
