Today is a mild 85º. The perfect day for a forage and napping!
Negra enjoying a forage on the hill today:
Jamie nesting with one of her favorite boots:
Annie in the greenhouse enjoying the weather:
Nesting
Easter 2017 Part II
The day after the big celebration the chimpanzees have been napping, resting and eating light, recovering from yesterday’s all day party! As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, here are a few photos from the first Young’s Hill forage of the year (aka Easter Party #2):
Annie picking carrots we “buried” for the chimps to harvest:
Jody and Negra (Negra was ALL over the place! It was her day 🙂 ):
Jody finds a quiet spot to enjoy her spoils:
Missy scored on corn:
Foxie and Dora on the hunt for Easter eggs filled with nuts and berries:
Boss lady, Jamie, thrilled with her beloved leeks:
And a bonus video of Easter shenanigans from the breakfast forage:
Some days are best for a nest
The sun has filled the chimp house with light and the chimps with high spirits and shenanigans, but the spring wind is chilly today so the chimps have spent the afternoon enjoying sunny spots from the comfort of their nests this afternoon. Much how I spent my weekend, so who can blame them?
Jamie:
Jody enjoying a magazine:
Burrito keeping an eye on good friend, Jody, from afar:
Negra:
Is That Neggie or Fake Neggie?
I’ll begin with an explanation of what the title of this blog actually means. “Neggie” is one of Negra’s nicknames, which is pretty straight forward. “Fake Neggie” is one of Missy’s nicknames, but Fake Neggie is not exactly short for Missy. So, how did Missy get that nickname you might ask? Keep reading to find out.
Blankets are among one of Negra’s favorite things. Wherever Negra is, there are usually blankets nearby. She can often be seen with a blanket covering her head, while she is napping. She also has a few favorite spots throughout the various enclosures where she prefers to build her nests. Here are a couple of photo examples of Negra with a blanket over her head.
Missy also likes to build elaborate nests to rest in (yes, the energizer bunny does like to rest up sometimes.) She too, sometimes likes to cover herself with a blanket.
Here are a few photos of Missy, with her head covered by a blanket.
Missy also likes to take over Negra’s nest, when Negra is not using it. This can sometimes make identifying these two chimps a little more challenging. Here is a good example of Missy (aka, Fake Neggie) with a blanket over her head, next to the real Neggie.
Okay, now that you know Neggie and Fake Neggie, who do you think is wrapped up in this nest?
The answer is……Neggie!
Tiny Big
Foxie is a tiny chimpanzee woman. But her size is no indication of the amount of joy, courage, fierceness, adventure, spirit and joy she walks, flips and spins through life with. Nor is it any indication of the amount of love this one heart holds for her.
Chimpanzee shenanigans
Today the chimps started out arguing and fighting and ripping and hooting, a little more than usual. But whatever family business they had to work out seems to have been resolved and they’ve spent the afternoon lounging about and engaging in a variety of goofy and endearing shenanigans.
Jamie has a routine of building a nest in one of the front rooms and napping/supervising the humans as we clean the playroom. Even while at rest, she usually has a project or a plan in progress…
and today she chose this:
Jamie is very creative and often likes to repurpose her enrichment:
(Happy Jamie flailing about):
Viola! From sock to ankle bandana:
Later in the afternoon, Foxie joined Jamie nesting in the playroom. Here is a good example of different nesting styles – Foxie doesn’t like to use blankets, whereas Jamie gets pretty creative:
With these two, it isn’t long before wrestling ensues:
And here it is folks, the ever-elusive Jamie play face!!:
Foxie is the one person who can really get Jamie to cut loose. But Jamie takes everything pretty seriously (she is the boss after all) so even when she is in full play mode, we don’t often catch a play face. So we need that in a closeup:
Foxie laughing as Jamie play bites her hand:
And last, but certainly not least, I leave you with this guy:
The Essentials
Jamie gathered a “few” essentials to add to her nest this morning. And by a few, I mean, a bucket (filled with snow), a few cups, a Dora doll, a scrub brush, a large LEGO piece, a few wooden toys, and two black boots. Other pieces of enrichment were added throughout the day including a nail file, a tooth brush and a left over Christmas stocking.
