The chimps never seem to tire of eating snow. Sitting here in the kitchen, I hear food grunts and squeaks every 5 minutes or so as someone returns from the outdoor area with a giant snowball.
snow
Enjoying the snow
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:
More adventures in the snow
Missy had her eye on a nice snowball, but she didn’t want to set foot in the snow to get it:
Foxie ventured out farther, with her troll in tow:
More snow photos…and Jamie signing?
To answer some of your questions from the previous post, both Jamie and Annie ventured all the way out yesterday. Jamie explored the entire outdoor area without stepping foot on the snow. She eventually settled in an alcove where she could sit on a dry ledge and watch the snow fall. Annie took very delicate steps across the snow to fetch some dried fruit.
Some of you may remember that Jamie signs to us occasionally. Sometimes she is clearly gesturing – in a way that other chimps don’t – but we can’t figure out what she’s trying to say. Its possible that she was taught different signs than the signs of American Sign Language that we are familiar with, or it could be that she just gets too excited to sign in a way that we can understand.
When we first opened the door to the snowy outdoor enclosure, Jamie was signing up a storm. I thought she might be asking for clothes, but when I offered her a sweatshirt, a hat, some mittens, and a scarf, she just looked frustrated. She eventually donned the winter hat and gave up on me…
