Leaping Lemurs!

[SaintLouieWoman]

This was "primate awareness weekend" at the zoo. I usually volunteer there on Saturday mornings, but decided it would be better to sleep in on Saturday and volunteer Sunday afternoon.

It was a beautiful day, in the mid 70's, light breeze, mostly sunny. SR decided to go with me. People were looking at him oddly, as he had on his new Darth Vader shirt.  He took a book and went off to find a quiet place to read. The problem is, the zoo is never quiet. The sea lions were barking and the lemurs started getting into "discussions" that could be heard almost all over the zoo. Those darned cute little things are really noisy when they get into territory disputes.

The sifakas (a type of lemur) were the most entertaining. They walk in their back feet and bounce like they're on a pogo stick. They can jump 30 feet. There was a game for the kids, with 30 feet marked off, and kids were asked to see how far they could jump. They had a little lemur toy to hold while they jumped.

Of course the sifakas obliged the kids by jumping in their outdoor enclosure almost 30 feet. And the kids (and I) loved when the keeper gave a talk, showing how the sifakas and other lemurs (black, black and white, and ringtailed lemurs) are trained. She had a little bowl of treats they liked and had a whistle. She blew the whistle when they came up to the wire in front of her and let her touch them. If they let her touch them, they got the treat. It was to train them to allow the mom lemur to be palpated, to check for pregnancy. The female wasn't too thrilled with it, but got upset when the treats were gone. The keeper had to turn the bowl over to show that they were gone.

It was a fun day, watching the kids enjoy the lemurs and enjoying the antics of those primitive primates.  Lemurs are from a group of primates called prosimians (which means "before apes") and are more similar to ancestral primates. They have pointy noses like a dog or fox.

[Lord Undies]

Lordy, I've missed your zoo revues!   

[SaintLouieWoman]

Lordy, I've missed your zoo revues!   

Thanks. I haven't been volunteering as much at the zoo. The politics of some of those women have been getting me down. I'm trying to recharge and rediscover why I started working there for free about 18 years ago.

I've decided to ignore the nonsense and just go there on beautiful days and talk to the keepers and other zoo workers, enjoy the animals, and talk to the kids. When I was in the elie area 3 weeks ago, 2 little kids were talking to me for about 15 minutes. When they left, one of the little girls said, "You really love those elephants, don't you?" For some reason that made me happy that the child noticed.

BTW, I'll have to take pics later and post them. I got 3 contemporary paintings today, at the bargain price of $5 each. 2 were done by lemurs and the other was done by 3 chimpanzees colaborating.  They actually look pretty good. Now the expensive part will be the framing.

I already have 4 larger paintings on the wall of the family room, 1 by penguins walking over the canvas, 2 more by hippos (you can see the whisker marks) and 1 by a rhino. At least it's not cookie cutter art that you see everywhere. 

[Lord Undies]

I would like to see the art.  Maybe I can see what two poodles and a chihuahua can come up with.  I'm partial to original art myself.

Here's my latest:

[SaintLouieWoman]

I would like to see the art.  Maybe I can see what two poodles and a chihuahua can come up with.  I'm partial to original art myself.

Here's my latest:

I'll bet the poodles and chichuahua could come up with something creative. Just get some "safe" paint that can be washed off their paws and set them loose on the canvas. 

The keeper told me that she smeared a little fingerpaint that kiddies used on the canvas and the lemur smeared it around. She did a nice job. They said the chimps actually take a brush and paint.

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Here's the link to the lemurs. They're cute little things. Of all the primates, they are one of the few that the keepers can go into their cage without fear of harm. You could never go into an enclosure with chimps.

http://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/mammals/lemursmonkeysapes/blacklemur.htm

[asdf2231]

I thought that it being "primate awareness weekend" you took Sarasota along as a kind of a show and tell project.  :innocent:

[Flame]

Lordy, I've missed your zoo revues!   

Ditto that!


And SLW, that artwork sounds like something I would like!  Take some pics when they are framed and hung and share with us!

[Lord Undies]

Here's the link to the lemurs. They're cute little things. Of all the primates, they are one of the few that the keepers can go into their cage without fear of harm. You could never go into an enclosure with chimps.

http://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/mammals/lemursmonkeysapes/blacklemur.htm

They are strange little creatures.  I think their teeth being slanted for grooming is a hoot!  No intelligent design myass.

[SaintLouieWoman]

Here's the link to the lemurs. They're cute little things. Of all the primates, they are one of the few that the keepers can go into their cage without fear of harm. You could never go into an enclosure with chimps.

http://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/mammals/lemursmonkeysapes/blacklemur.htm

They are strange little creatures.  I think their teeth being slanted for grooming is a hoot!  No intelligent design myass.

They have such huge eyes that seem almost haunting when you stand outside their enclosure.  They really took notice of a small plane flying overhead. I heard they got all excited Saturday when the balloon race went overhead. We have one of the largest in the country that takes off from Forest Park. Maybe it's the noise of the balloons, maybe the colors as they drifted over the zoo.