Here by Glimpses Known
13 Jun 2007 02:06 pmFor ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frigg, who wanted, and I quote, "some exotic animal stuff."
The term "lemur" is derived from the Latin word lemures, meaning "spirits of the night," and likely refers to the large, reflective eyes which many of the nocturnal lemur species have. ~Wikipedia, "Lemur"
Mayotte is not particularly blessed with a wide range of wildlife. Yes, we have some pretty birds, giant fruit bats, cool geckos, and golden-web-spinning spiders, but on the mammalian front, lemurs, or "makis" as the French call them, don't have much company. The species, a native of Madagascar, is not the most spectacular looking, but they are adorable when they are accepting bananas from you with their soft hands, which have black fingernails instead of claws. Just be careful not to stand under them while they eat because the "in one end and out the other" process doesn't take long at all.
The makis have a matriarchal society, and the young cling to their mothers for the first two to three months of life. If a maki dies, its fellows put it in a hole or ditch and cover it with leaves. They then "mourn" the deceased with a sort of sobbing cry.
frigg, who wanted, and I quote, "some exotic animal stuff." The term "lemur" is derived from the Latin word lemures, meaning "spirits of the night," and likely refers to the large, reflective eyes which many of the nocturnal lemur species have. ~Wikipedia, "Lemur"
Mayotte is not particularly blessed with a wide range of wildlife. Yes, we have some pretty birds, giant fruit bats, cool geckos, and golden-web-spinning spiders, but on the mammalian front, lemurs, or "makis" as the French call them, don't have much company. The species, a native of Madagascar, is not the most spectacular looking, but they are adorable when they are accepting bananas from you with their soft hands, which have black fingernails instead of claws. Just be careful not to stand under them while they eat because the "in one end and out the other" process doesn't take long at all.
The makis have a matriarchal society, and the young cling to their mothers for the first two to three months of life. If a maki dies, its fellows put it in a hole or ditch and cover it with leaves. They then "mourn" the deceased with a sort of sobbing cry.