Foxie frequently rubs her toes together. I don’t think we’ve shared any video of this on the blog before. It is one of Foxie’s many endearing habits.
troll
Foxie and Jamie playing with Diana
The other day, Diana was playing chase with Foxie when Jamie decided to join in on the fun. Many of the chimps at CSNW will wear clothing when they are feeling playful. In this video, you’ll notice Jamie tying a sarong around her waist just before she invites Diana to chase her.
Foxie- the next “Lord of the Dance”
Today, I popped in a video of “Lord of the Dance”, donated by one of our many wonderful supporters and volunteers, Stephanie Perciful. We put it on our wishlist in hopes that Negra would enjoy it, because she sometimes enjoys watching her caregivers’ dance. So far Negra hasn’t shown much interest in it and is usually too far away to see it. Foxie on the other hand, seems to thoroughly enjoy it and looks like she kind of wants to join in! Someone recently commented that Foxie may be musically inclined- I think I agree. Thanks, Stephanie! I’d say Foxie seems pretty enriched!
Note- I orginally said that the video was donated by Tamela, but it was actually Stephanie who donated it! So sorry Stephanie and Tamela for the confusion! Guess I am indeed human. 🙂
Phantom Nesting
Although we have never witnessed Burrito build his own nest with blankets, as we have mentioned in other blog posts, he will often sleep in someone elses’ nest. Today, I caught Burrito engaging a behavior we, at CSNW, call Phantom Nesting. This is a behavior both he and Foxie occasionally do, which involves clapping and running their clasped hands along the fence, the wall, and/or the floor. Interestingly, this is not a behavior that is seen in the wild, and is rarely seen at all. As far as we know, the behavior has only been observed in a few captive individuals, but definitely seems to be related to nesting.
*Editor’s Note (from Diana): we don’t know much about this behavior. We’d love to hear from others who work with chimpanzees both in captivity and in the wild to find out if you’ve observed nesting behavior in the absence of “normal” nesting material and/or if you’ve seen the same clapping and arm movements described above and shown in the video below.
Troll rescue
Foxie pulled an Indiana Jones this morning. I was letting the chimps out to the playroom after breakfast, and Foxie was the last one through the door, with her giant troll in tow. Just as I closed the door behind her, she seemed to realize that she had left a few other trolls behind. She wheeled around and looked through the closed door for her missing dolls with a slightly panicked look. I reopened the door, and she flew through the room, gathering all of her trolls with her free hand. She was back out the door before I even finished opening it!
Of course I didn’t catch that on camera, but I did take some photos of Foxie yesterday:
New view
The chimpanzees got to check out the new window today. The window replaced an extra door that went from the playroom to the outdoor area. J.B. still had some work to do on the outdoor area side, so we went out to say hello to the chimps through the window. In the meantime, the Poppoff crew was still hard at work in the mud (but no rain today) getting things ready for the foundation that will be part of the greenhouse structure going over the outdoor area. Workin workin again!
Jamie, of course, was the first to inspect the window
Jody was also very curious
It’s difficult to see, but Jamie and J.B. are “touching” hands through the glass in the photo below
For context – here is a zoomed-out view. The new window is to the left, the chimp door that we use from the playroom to the outdoor area is to the right. The two windows on top are just above the catwalk in the playroom.
Foxie likes the new window too
Many of the chimps watched J.B. working all day. Below is Jamie making sure J.B. is doing a good job (or maybe seeing how things come apart!)
Laughter
The seven chimpanzees living at CSNW are the most playful group I’ve ever met. You would think they were kids the way they play and laugh. As all of you who follow the blog know, Foxie in particular has a kid-like disposition (at least she does now that she’s in sanctuary!) Jamie, on the other hand, can often be very serious. But Foxie is able to bring out the kid in Jamie too, as you’ll see in the video below.
One interesting thing that we’ve observed is that the chimpanzees seem to play wrestle more in the front rooms than any other location within the building. Perhaps it feels like a more private location for wrestling?
