The lemurs get front-lined every month, just like your dog at home. For the Ring Tailed Lemurs, I have goals of making this a trained behavior so that application goes smoothly. Right now it’s more like a “sneak attack” approach. So I began by teaching them the behavior- Wall. What I expected from them was to hop onto a stool and place both hands on the wall. To train this behavior, I started with stool- they already have a JumpRead more
Posts filed in: Lemurs
The Fossa
This is a fossa, it is the main predator of lemurs. As you can see it kinda looks like a cat, but actually, it is related to the mongoose. They live in Madagascar and can grow up to 6 feet long but only weigh about 25 lbs. The fossa isn’t just a predator to lemurs, it’s the islands largest predator and a strict carnivore, so it feeds on just about anything it can. (although lemurs are their favorite meal) Read more
QuikPic: Cassandra
Here is a great picture of Cassandra I took in the mid-afternoon recently. It was in the high 70’s and mostly cloudy, but as soon as the clouds parted, she took full advantage of a great sun bathing spot!Read more
Shocking day… and in a bad way.
It’s horrible news to report: We found Lycus dead this morning. He was very old, but this was a shock as he had been acting as he typically does. There’s nothing much more to say, but wanted folks to know. Read more
lemur physicals
This week the red ruffed lemurs got their annual physicals. All three girls- Cynthia, Iris, and Jethys- did great. Each one, from pre-sedation to reversal took 37 minutes. We’re waiting for blood work to come back, but everyone’s initial findings seemed to be okay. Our girls are getting old so I always have concerns about what the tests will show. Cynthia is almost 32 years old. The Duke lemur center only has one red ruffed lemur older than her. Read more
The Lemurs Meet a Mop Head
Who doesn’t like enrichment videos?? Cereal strung up into a cotton mop head is one of my favorite enrichment items to watch our lemurs interact with. Personally, I think stringing a whole bunch of tiny pieces of cereal onto a mop head is tedious and not at all fun, but the result is worth it. Below are a couple videos I took of the Ringtails and Red Ruffeds spending some quality time with their favorite mops. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCtJ5Sl1a0k[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZK_Thi36H0[/youtube]Read more