It’s really hard to say if Foxie would have made a good mother, but one thing is for sure, her babies would be getting lots of fresh air and sunshine these days!
troll
Time on the hill and relatives
We have had pretty sunny weather lately, but it’s getting colder and colder these days (we even have snow in the forecast!) so the chimps have been spending less and less time on Young’s Hill, but that does not mean that they don’t want the option! As I type, Jody is blocking the door in the raceway, even though no one, including her, has had any interest in going out there for at least the last hour. It’s all about choices around here, so I’ll give her as much time as she needs.
Here are a few photos from the last couple of days of folks enjoying the hill. I’m pretty much addicted to taking photos of people out there. I still can’t get over it.
Missy:
Annie:
Foxie has been getting more comfortable and ambitious on the hill these days:
as is Burrito:
Speaking of Burrito, I recently learned that Burrito has a half brother, Clay, who lives at Save the Chimps in Florida. Clay and Burrito have the same father, Mack, who passed away at Save the Chimps a little over a year ago, and Clay’s mother is none other than our Jody! One of our former volunteers, Janie, is working at Save the Chimps now and reported that Clay has many of the same mannerisms as Jody and Burrito, including Mr. B’s signature always-pilo erect hair (pilo erect is the technical term for when your hair stands on end). Check out Clay’s profile on the Save the Chimps website. To me, he looks almost exactly like Burrito with Jody’s almond eyes. The last photo on Clay’s page is a photo of his profile. I found the following older photo of Burrito for comparison.
Motivation
I have no idea what was going through Foxie’s mind as she walked around the entire perimeter of Young’s Hill on that first day out, but since then, she has been extremely reluctant to go back out. Everyday she tries, but as soon as she gets about 20 feet from the doorway she freezes in her tracks. Obviously the whole experience of being outdoors is overwhelming to her.
Her friends have been encouraging her to go out and to remain out once she is there. But they know that she is scared and they don’t try to push her beyond her comfort zone.
The other day I saw something amazing. Missy came out of the tunnel with a troll in her mouth, and Foxie was trailing behind her. Missy doesn’t care for trolls, so I thought that perhaps Missy was using the troll as a lure to try to help Foxie get outside. And in a way, she was..but it was Foxie that initiated it! Since then, I’ve seen Foxie go through this routine three times with Missy. Foxie begins by stomping around the greenhouse, which is an invitation for someone to go out to the hill with her. When Missy joins her, they both pause and Foxie delicately hands over her troll. She then waits for Missy and the troll to lead the way up the hill.
A Few of the Out of the Box Art Pieces
Only a few days left to get tickets to Out of the Box 2011!
We have some really tremendous art in the auction this year! Big thanks to Jessie Johnson who headed up the art procurement. She and all procurement volunteers really outdid themselves this year.
These are just a few pieces:
Cosca I is a signed and numbered limited edition serigraph (certification included) by Victor Varsarely, leader of the Op-Art movement. It will be in “Negra’s Favorite Things” section of the silent auction. You can download a full list of silent auction items and preview live auction items on our auction preview page.
We have a few quilts in the auction this year – each one unique. One, made by Jodi Davila, is in the online auction. See her blue and yellow quilt and browse all online auction items (still more to add).
Here’s a gorgeous quilt that will be in the the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle. The quilt was lovingly handmade by blog reader Annie Nordmark and is called Squares ²:
Tamela has made some gorgeous necklaces this year. Two of them, Mr. B and In the Wild are in the online auction and two are in the Seattle auction.
Below is Tamela’s Miss Missy, which is also in the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle:
We have some amazingly talented supporters and volunteers! Here is a photo of a mirror with a beautiful hand-painted frame made by Volunteer Stephanie Perciful. You’ll find it in the “Burrito’s Corner” section of the silent auction (Burrito LOVES Stephanie):
Volunteer Seana Blake has created one-of-a-kind three-dimensional collages using enrichment well-loved by the chimpanzees (and one piece she created from discarded fence construction bits and other pieces of found metal objects).
There are five pieces by Seana total. I can’t decide what my favorite is, but it might be the one below called “Trolls are Delicious.” This will be up for bid, where else but the “Trollin’ with Foxe” section of the silent auction:
Margaret Parkinson has donated several prints of her artwork this year, including one print of her now famous Negra in the Sun (the original painting sold at the 2009 auction). You’ll find this in the “Trollin’ with Foxie” section of the silent auction too. And you can find a couple of other prints by Margaret in the online auction.
And speaking of this image, just added to the CSNW store is the greatest sweatshirt ever made. It’s a unisex hoodie made by Alternative Earth and is super-soft, mega-comfortable and has an image taken from the same photograph that inspired Margaret’s painting above. It’s not as gorgeously colorful as Margaret’s, but it’s pretty cool. The company that makes the blank sweatshirts, Alternative Apparel, retails them for $50, so getting the sweatshirt with Negra’s image for the same price is a bargain! Buy one now – you don’t want to go through the fall months without one of these hoodies – trust me. Here’s a photo of Sarah wearing a size medium:
Seriously Playful
In contrast to the Negra-style play mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, when Foxie and Jamie play, they are completely uninhibited and just down right goofy. I could watch them (and laugh with them) being silly all day long.
Happy Birthday to Richard and Foxie
Supporter Dawn Killen-Courtney has sponsored today in joint celebration of two very special birthdays: Foxie’s, which we celebrated in grand style a few days ago (see video of the party here), and Dawn’s husband Richard’s, which is today. Dawn and Foxie happen to have a lot in common: they’re both troll doll aficionados! Dawn’s even written books about trolls. While many of our supporters learn a lot about trolls after learning of Foxie’s love for them, it happened the other way around for Dawn. It was discovering that a chimpanzee shared her passion that led Dawn to CSNW. We (and Foxie) are so glad you found us, Dawn.
Here’s Foxie loving on one of her new trolls at her party:
A very happy birthday to Foxie and Richard from Dawn!
Foxie’s 35th birthday video
As promised, here’s some video from yesterday’s celebration:
Thanks to everyone who donated trolls and made this troll bonanza possible!
