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IN THIS ISSUE: We've got an all-new look this month! Enjoy a spooky romp in the pumpkin patch with Agatha and Medusa, learn about nocturnal lemurs, and join us for our first Learning Lemurs Live event!
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Can't join us live? Don't worry!
Each Learning Lemurs: Live session will be recorded so you can view it later at the link above. Want to get your questions answered live? Send us your questions ahead of time at learninglemurs@duke.edu.
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Pleasant Primate of the Month goes to... Aria and Ma'at
Aria and Ma’at painted their way into Lemur Center history by completing 20 canvases during one painting session! Most lemurs complete three to five works of art in a half hour of painting time. Thank you for your enthusiasm!
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Problematic Primate of the Month goes to... Bonita
Every lemur loves enrichment, but it can be hard for some lemurs to figure out tricky puzzle feeders. Mongoose lemur Bonita keeps letting her partner, Rico, open up the puzzle before stealing the treats for herself!
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This Month at the DLC
We kicked off October at the DLC with our 2021 virtual gala Mission: Madagascar – Looking Back, Looking Ahead! We certainly missed seeing everyone in person, but we are so appreciative to everyone who donated or tuned in for our virtual events this year. This year’s gala focused on the Duke Lemur Center’s past, present, and future work protecting lemurs in Madagascar. One of the most exciting developments in this year’s fundraising event was a matched donation offer from one of our long-time, loyal donors. This donor offered to match donations up to $15,000 to help fund the DLC Sava Conservation Project fuel-efficient stove initiative. Because the majority of Malagasy households use wood or charcoal-burning stoves to cook with, providing more fuel-efficient alternatives can save up to 600 pounds of charcoal per household, per year. With the full donation amount of $30,000, we will be able to get these amazing fuel-efficient stoves into over 1,000 households this year. Just think of how many trees that can save! These long-lasting, cleaner-burning stoves also cut down on household pollutants, which will be a major health benefit, especially for women and girls, as they traditionally do most of the cooking. We would like to extend a HUGE thank-you to everyone who donates, visits, or supports the Duke Lemur Center in any way—your help has an enormous impact!
Read more about the cooking stove project here.
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A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch!
What do you use to carve pumpkins? Aye-ayes are equipped with tapping fingers and strong front teeth for their snack-o-lantern fun! While aye-ayes are not usually interested in eating pumpkins (or carving them!), the tough structure of the pumpkin can be a fun foraging challenge, not to mention the new smells, textures, and tastes that go along with this Halloween worm hunt!
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Enrichment for Humans: Backyard Bats
Nocturnal animals are hard to see in the wild, so it isn’t always as easy to learn about them! If you go outside as the sun is setting and watch the sky, especially in natural areas with trees, water sources, and street lights, you can usually spot a bat or two flying overhead. There are over 1,400 species of bat found all over the world, including your backyard! In this activity, we’ll learn a little bit more about our fluffy flying neighbors.
Click here for the activity!
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Things that Go BOING in the Night
As the sun sets on the forests of Madagascar, the lively hum of insects, birds, reptiles and lemurs ebbs into quiet. Night falls, and a new world begins to emerge in the darkness. The chorus of frogs, the rattle of tenrec spines, and the whisper of moon moth wings fill the night. In the trees, pairs of eyes seem to glow in the moonlight. The nocturnal lemurs of Madagascar are wonderfully mysterious and difficult to observe in the wild, but make up more than 60% of total lemur species. From the world’s smallest primate, Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, to the world’s largest nocturnal primate, the aye-aye, these incredible creatures are worth staying up late for.
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Night Animals
By Gianna Marino
Hearing noises in the dark can be scary, even if you are nocturnal! In Night Animals, Possum and his friends investigate what other night animals could be out there.
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The Secret Life of Bats
By Merlin Tuttle
Bats are an incredible but often misunderstood group of animals. Bat expert Merlin Tuttle takes you inside their world in his book, The Secret Life of Bats.
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Join the Learning Lemurs Club!
Learning Lemurs Club members get access to our web portal with all of the previous newsletters and awesome content. Click here to join the club today!
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