Lemurcon 96 Images!
Every year since 1994, both a my girlfriend and I run away from our jobs and life in New York for a few days, and face the two-day drive in a little red car, down to Lemur Lane in Durham for Lemurcon. We can proudly say that we are two of only four people to have attended all Lemurcons thus far! Well, at least we are not quite as fanatic as some people, even though Maria has lemur posters all over he office, and I have a little plush ringtail standing on top of my monitor right now, staring at me!
In 96, things were a little different. J. Furr was too busy to organize a very large conference, so we were a much smaller group than on previous years. Even though we were only a small group, DUPC's Director, Dr. Ken Glander, took some time off from his busy schedule, and took us on tour all over the center, for two consecutive days. We not only learned a lot about lemurs, but we also found out where Dr. Glander buys his mustache wax! After our tour, following the tradition of Lemurcon 95, we all volunteered to help on a physical task. In 95, we had helped by adding and spreading several tons of mulch onto the floors of the recently built cages. This year, we all grabbed some shovels and sledge-hammers, and removed the old wooden frames from the older cages, in order to make room for the new ones. We also removed an old round metal cage, which had a solid concrete base. Hard work, yes, but we had a lot of fun!
Well, without further ado, here are some of the pictures I took. I'm not an expert on lemurs, so I only wrote the names of the species a truly recognized.
A White Frowned lemur at night.
Three species of Sifakas interacting. Drusilla, the Coquerel's Sifaka (the one on the left), would laugh at me, whenever I made funny faces at her. Yes, Sifakas do laugh, but their laugh doesn't make any sound.
A Bamboo lemur in Bamboo lemur heaven! This paradise (if you are a Bamboo lemur) is in the same enclosure as the Beach House.
A female Blue-eyed lemur feeling blue.
A couple of brown lemur (species?) snuggling after a long day of marking their territory. This territory includes all humans who dare to get too close!
A Black and White Ruffed lemur, awaiting for some food, which I incidentally didn't have.
Here is the same Black and White, after not finding what it wanted.
Here are two views of DUPC's enclosures. these are the older enclosures, and here are some of the newer ones, covered because of the rain. At the end of Lemurcon 95, the participants joined-in under a rainy sky, and started to move several tons of mulch in wheel barrels into the new cages, while other participants helped spreading the mulch. In the end, we saved the Primate Center several weeks of work, and most important, the lemurs could get to their new homes earlier.
A baby ringtail, hiding behind a tree.
A Golden-Crown Sifaka, and another brown lemur of un-identifiable species! :) - This little brown guy loved to mark me, my rake, and my bucket. It would do this every time I went to rake it's cage. That's Ken Manatt standing with his camera outside the cage.
Gordian, our adopted baby Sifaka, holding-on to his mother's back. Maria and I just fell in love with the little guy, so we decided to adopt him under DUPC's Adopt-A-lemur program.
Another picture of Gordian, about to fall asleep.
One of DUPC's Natural Habitat Enclosures. Once again, we have Ken Manatt with his camera on the background. Ken's attitude about appearing on pictures is exactly the opposite as Joel Furr's!
A Coquerel's Sifaka contemplating an open door. "I wonder if I can jump faster than that human can push this door into my face!". Here is a Golden Crowned Sifaka, taking an even closer look. (Note for anyone concerned about the animals escaping: The area that these doors open to is itself fenced-in.)
Here is proof that lemurs are indeed attracted to photographic lenses! Note that the dark shade on the right side of the image, is the lemur's paw over my lens. Alt.fan.lemurs' folklore was actually right! This other guy actually tried to nibble on my camera! Dr. Glander, (the one on the phone, not he one with the tail!) quickly told me to step away, since metal, glass, rubber and plastic are NOT part of a balanced prosimian diet! I guess we learn something new every day.
A Ringtail baby, doing what they do best: Impersonating popcorn! (David Haring's description). One thing I noticed was that, although during these playing moments the little Ringtails just ignore any human presence, they make it a point not to touch any humans nearby. They would jump and climb everything nearby including their relatives, their own tails, or their own shadows. But I never saw they touch anyone, even by accident, even if the person was standing right in the middle of their playing field.
A Ringtail climbing down a tree.
Romeo, the only Diademed Sifaka in captivity in the world. Here is another view.
A group of Coquerel's Sifakas, jumping about the cage. It is amazing to see these animals take HUGE leaps, and then just bounce off straight into another HUGE leap! They are like those little solid rubber balls, that if you throw really hard in a room, will bounce off everything! Come-on, you've done it! Admit it!
Ringtails, waving in the wind..., a new novel by Joel Furr.
A Coquerel's Sifaka trying to cool down.
Here is a Lemurcon 96 group picture. And here is another one (Maria Drago, Ken Manatt, Vance Kochenderfer, Joel Furr, myself, and Dr. Glander). Hey look! There is yet another one, but this time Dr. Glander is replaced by Carole Stoops, since someone had to hold the camera.
During our stay in Durham, Joel and Carole were our un-official tour guides (Thanks guys!). They took us to see most of the city, and always found something for us to do. On the Sunday following Lemurcon 96, Joel drove us around town, where we bumped into the 96 Olympic Torch. Maria, being the good Roman Catholic Irish person she is, asked Joel to take us to see Duke Chapel at the University's campus, where we once again ran into the torch's committee.
After Lemurcon 96, Maria and I stayed in Durham for an extra week, working as volunteers at the center. Ken Manatt, another con participant also joined-in on the volunteering a couple of days later. If you are thinking of volunteering at the center, here is a little note.
Later.
This page is maintained by João de Souza
