It has been a bit dreary the last few days here in Central Oregon, and, just like us, the chimps get cabin fever. That is why it is so important that the volunteers and caregivers take a little extra time to create novel enrichment. Well, today, I was struggling to create games and toys for the chimps to play with. I knew that Herbie loved to carry around shoes, but I didn’t know what to do with them to make them fun. After an hour of trying to think of something creative I just decided to give Herbie the entire box full of shoes. There must have been 3 dozen different shoes including big boots, sandals, tennis shoes, sneakers and even fluffy slippers. When Herbie saw the mound of shoes that I left behind he hooted like he just won the lottery! With excitement, he swaggered over to the pile of footwear and plucked out about 8 different shoes. Why he chose the specific shoes he did, I will never know, but he carried these special shoes to every enclosure he went to today.