October 16 - Night Walk
Nov. 4th, 2007 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leaping_lemursLater that same night:
I have just one thing to say about our night walk: mouse lemurs!
OK, I have lots of things to say (I mean, this is still me, after all, and I’m a yakker), but that was by far the most important. Julien is a treat. He carries two flashlights that he’s constantly sweeping back and forth, and his enthusiasm is boundless. On several occasions he ran right out of his flip-flops in his hurry to find mouse lemurs for us, then had to hunt around for them before we could go on. Our walk was mainly through a local vanilla plantation, and we ended up jogging along the paths several times, with Julien calling “Come, come, come!” at us.
We really only saw three things tonight, a tiny frog who escaped before we could get his picture, a gorgeous tomato frog who was only about a foot away when we shot his picture,
and four, count ‘em, four, brown mouse lemurs. And do you know who spotted the first one? Me! I saw eyeshine up in a tree, and it was a very acrobatic mouse lemur who led Julien a merry chase as he tried to catch it or at least herd it low enough for us to get a decent picture. It was a noble effort, but a failed one, and mouse lemur #2 was a repeat. I suspect my pictures will be of tree branches and nothing else.
OK, you can sort of see him here.
#3, however, was a success. Julien caught him and held him gently, so we could see how tiny he was and get pictures. We even got to hold him, and he was this weightless little bundle of softness with tiny sticky hands. And so gentle! He just sat, never trying to bite, and looked at us. Then Julien put him (or her, I really don’t know) back in his tree and he scampered up a branch and away.
Look at the feet!
So cute!
#4 came just as we were getting back to the resort, and though he was nowhere near as close as the one British Guy got a picture of (I’m still green with envy over that), I did get him on his branch, and I think I’ll be able to crop the shots close enough to get a good look at him.
I was right! Look!
Selfishly, I’m hoping for another chance tomorrow.
Tomorrow is a boat trip to Masaola and a 7 km (about 3.5 miles) hike, but apparently not a super-strenuous one, as well as a look around a spice plantation. But for tonight, only one thought fills my mind: mouse lemurs!
I have just one thing to say about our night walk: mouse lemurs!
OK, I have lots of things to say (I mean, this is still me, after all, and I’m a yakker), but that was by far the most important. Julien is a treat. He carries two flashlights that he’s constantly sweeping back and forth, and his enthusiasm is boundless. On several occasions he ran right out of his flip-flops in his hurry to find mouse lemurs for us, then had to hunt around for them before we could go on. Our walk was mainly through a local vanilla plantation, and we ended up jogging along the paths several times, with Julien calling “Come, come, come!” at us.
We really only saw three things tonight, a tiny frog who escaped before we could get his picture, a gorgeous tomato frog who was only about a foot away when we shot his picture,
and four, count ‘em, four, brown mouse lemurs. And do you know who spotted the first one? Me! I saw eyeshine up in a tree, and it was a very acrobatic mouse lemur who led Julien a merry chase as he tried to catch it or at least herd it low enough for us to get a decent picture. It was a noble effort, but a failed one, and mouse lemur #2 was a repeat. I suspect my pictures will be of tree branches and nothing else.
OK, you can sort of see him here.
#3, however, was a success. Julien caught him and held him gently, so we could see how tiny he was and get pictures. We even got to hold him, and he was this weightless little bundle of softness with tiny sticky hands. And so gentle! He just sat, never trying to bite, and looked at us. Then Julien put him (or her, I really don’t know) back in his tree and he scampered up a branch and away.
Look at the feet!
So cute!
#4 came just as we were getting back to the resort, and though he was nowhere near as close as the one British Guy got a picture of (I’m still green with envy over that), I did get him on his branch, and I think I’ll be able to crop the shots close enough to get a good look at him.
I was right! Look!
Selfishly, I’m hoping for another chance tomorrow.
Tomorrow is a boat trip to Masaola and a 7 km (about 3.5 miles) hike, but apparently not a super-strenuous one, as well as a look around a spice plantation. But for tonight, only one thought fills my mind: mouse lemurs!
