Nightlife in the Forest

It is like looking up at a string of orange twinkle lights in the treetops, but actually it is the glow of the eye shine of several nocturnal primate species.

Who is hiding in the dark?

It has been really fun tromping through the forest during the day and observing the diversity of animals scurrying around, but it is a different kind of excitement walking through the forest at night. Every twig snap, every chirp, every rustle captures my attention, but I swing around and see only darkness. Or at best, with my headlamp beaming a narrow column of light into which I proceed, I see someone, some thing, staring back at me.

Though I'm ready to fall asleep after a long day (5am wake up call!!), many others are just getting started, including the dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus medius and C. major, just coming out of hibernation), gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), and southern woolly lemur (Avahi meridionalis), and a few non-primate mammals such as the Dormouse tufted tailed rat (Eliurus myoxinus). I apologize for my lack of nighttime photography skills, but a few more night walks to practice fiddling around with the dials, and I may capture a few shots that are less blurry than the ones shown here.

Sadly, my best shot of a dwarf lemur; please excuse my night photography

Mouse lemur

Avahi

Shame you can hardly see the  faces of this mother/infant avahi pair! I vow to get a better picture. The infant is on the mother's back, up by her shoulders.

I have also woken up a few sleepers, including some birds and chameleons. I had no idea that some chameleons turn white while they sleep! While I am sorry to have disturbed this individual, it was so cool watching as she changed to her more colorful self!

Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite! (seemed fitting...)