Rescuers Can’t Believe to See the “Yellow Things” a Chimp Placed on her Head
September was rescued back in 2002 after being kept in a cage in someone’s backyard.
She now lives at the Save the Chimps sanctuary and has lots of room to play, learn and be herself. Her caregivers learn more about her every day — including her unique favorite pastime.
September has been at the sanctuary for two decades now, but late last year, she started doing something new.
Every time she came inside for meals, her caregivers noticed she had some new friends with her: bees. Curious, the staffers checked out the security footage, and sure enough, there was September, hanging out near some flowers, trying to catch bees.
“We wondered where she was getting them until one day, I witnessed her catch one,” Rebecca Muscat, September’s care technician, told The Dodo.
“She allows them to crawl across her body and will always gently put them back on her head or in her ear for safekeeping. When she lays down, she watches them crawl across her belly. When they start to wander too far or out of reach, she places them back at the top of her body.”
Having the bees around seems to comfort September. They’re like her little emotional support buddies, and her caregivers love to watch her with them every chance they get.
“The bees are a great example of how chimps are individuals with much more cognitive awareness than we give them credit for, and that’s why it’s one of my favorite things to talk about,” Muscat said.
September has always been particularly creative and aware, and her relationship with her bee friends is just the tip of the iceberg of how incredible she is.
“September is a really amazing, intelligent and unique chimp, and this is one example of why,” Muscat said.
