I was lucky enough to stumble upon a meeting of the Girls Club last week, aka Mora B, aka Mave, Dora, and Honey B. I was walking around the sanctuary to give out some juice before heading to lunch myself when I found these 3 ladies lounging in the shade in the chute. Dora initiated play with me, so I sat down to enjoy the moment. She tapped the back of my hand with her (super cute) toes, let me knuckle rub her arm and back, and then I took my phone out so she could look at herself in my camera. While she was admiring herself, Honey B realized the camera was out and joined the party, which turned into playing with Dora while occasionally still watching themselves on the phone. I hope you enjoy watching all of this play out in today’s video, and be sure to stay until the end for a special guest appearance at Girls Club.
Mave
Gather Around the Gatorade Pool
Everything fun happens around the watering hole or should I say, Gatorade pool! The chimps had a nice, quiet, and relaxing day. I think they may be resting up for the big fourth of July celebration tomorrow! Make sure to tune in for all the fun tomorrow!
Before I go, here are some bonus photos 🙂
Burrito:
Miss Mave:
Rayne’s toes, waiting for smoothie:
Negra enjoying her pudding cup:
Mora B: Playing Hooky
This week Mave, Honey B and Dora decided they would prefer not to shift with the rest of their group for cleaning and instead played hooky in the front rooms. where it was just the three of them. This is the not the first time you’ve heard about Honey B enticing her friends to skip out on shifting and hang out with her for a private play session and as you’ll see in today’s video, none of the girls had any regrets!
Mr. Caterpillar
Over the past few days, I have been gathering photos and thinking about a theme for today’s blog. At first, it was going to be about Rayne holding her new broccoli enrichment toy. However, this morning, Dora allowed me to take some amazing portraits of her. So then I ran with the idea of writing about the “Small, but Mighty Dora”. But then… Burrito started playing with Mr. Caterpillar! After that, Lucky and Willy let me take some awesome portraits too. So today I thought, why not have it all, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I hope you enjoy the video of Burrito playing as he is always making our day brighter. And of course, all the bonus photos!
Mr. Burrito Caterpillar:
When the weather gets nicer, we often find Cy like this 🙂
Yesterday was a beautiful day. So beautiful that Honey B decided to hold out in the Chute 🙂
Lucky portrait:
And a Lucky smooch:
Mave grooming herself in the chute next to Dora:
Rayne relaxing in a nest:
Rayne holding her broccoli toy and enjoying the warm greenhouse:
Rayne’s typical breakfast spot, however, yesterday she brought this brush with her and never let it go:
She has amazing balance:
Willy B checking himself out:
And the little mighty Dora enjoying the warm sunshine in the chute this morning:
Forage Season!
We love forage season! It’s the best time of the year, when the weather is warm enough for chimps to hangout outside! Personally, it’s my favorite time of the year to take pictures of the chimps! I love seeing the grass contrast in the background. Please enjoy these photos of the chimps having a great day!
Burrito getting a bird’s-eye view of his neighbors while eating his kohlrabi:
Later he snagged some sweet potato:
Jamie did very well for herself (the green onion in foot is the best):
Annie bird:
Negra was the first one out this morning and the first one out for the forage:
Foxie eating a carrot:
Foxie in the green grass:
We even got a glimpse of Rayne from Young’s Hill:
Rayne really enjoyed the forage:
Bonus photos of Mave working on a Giant Kong:
*Event coming up* if anyone is in the Washington or Seattle area, we will be tabling at the Planted Expo at the Seattle Convention Center this Saturday, April 20th and Sunday, April 21st from 10 to 5. This will be our first time at Planted and we are really looking forward to it, so come say hi!
More of Brave Mave on the Bray
As J.B. excitedly described last week, Mave finally decided to explore the outdoors. We don’t know what prompted her newfound bravery, but we are here for it!
And so, apparently, is Gordo.
Brave Mave’s Foray on the Bray
We almost missed it the first time.
I had a few minutes to kill before the chimps’ breakfast and decided to see if anyone was on the Bray. When I exited the greenhouse door I had to rub my eyes. Funny, I thought, that almost looks like Mave out there…
When caring for animals, or anyone for that matter, there are things you can control or influence and things you can’t. For the latter, all you can do is be patient and let them find their own way in their own time.
I guess the other obvious life lesson here is this: If there’s something you are afraid of, just get in a lot of fights and do the scary thing while you’re fighting. The fighting will seem much scarier by comparison, and over time, you will come to discover that you had the power to do the thing without fighting all along. 🙂
Anyway, three cheers for Mave! See you out on the Bray!