Sandra Emmonsp age 10 of Shreveport.. La., for her question:
What is a lemur?
The lemur is a monkey type animal with a soft silky coat and the large starry ayes of a day dreamer which he is. He dreams away the daylight hours, curled up in a ball and fast asleep with his fluffy tail wrapped around his neck. He comes out at night to search for food in the jungle trees. Usually he travels with a few friends and relatives and the jungle night echoes with their weird and plaintive cries,
The lemur family lives in Madagascar and the nearby isle and The Malagasy the natives of Madagascar named the pretty creatures lemurs meaning ghosts because of their eerie night tams wails and shrieks. As a rules the little fellows are more often heard than seen. Even if by chance you should see one in the day times he is such an agile acrobat that ha is out of sight in a flash, hidden in the dense jungle foliage. He is here and there too fast to be shot with a gun. When the Malagasy wish to catch him they hunt him with dogs,
There are many lemur cousins,, most of them no bigger than, house cats, The giant of the family is the woolly black and white inc1ris who is all of two feet long. Unlike mast lemurs he is without a tail and often seen on the ground in the day time. What's more, he walks after fashion on his hind legs with his arms held aloft as though he were balancing on a tight rope,
The Malagasy name for the indriis babakoto and they era vary proud of the little toddler s antics. They ware so proud that they pointed him out to early visitors with great delight. Indri, indri, they said. The visitors thought that indri was the name of the animal when actually it was the Malagasy word for, Look!
As a group, the lemurs are the gentlest of animals. They feed mostly on fruity nuts and other jungle delicacies. Insects and birds’ eggs may also be on the menu. The summers of Madagascar are hot and dry and the lemurs may feel a food shortage. Some of them hibernate until times improve. Each finds a little den perhaps in a hollow tree, and pads it with dry leaves. Than he curls himself into a ball, falls into a deep sleep and waits until rain refreshes the forest.
The young lemur is always an only child. For Mamma has but one baby each year, She is a mammal animal and feeds her baby on mother's milk. During his kindergarten days Junior goes wharever Momma goes. The little fella clings to her soft fur with hands and feet. He may ride along on her back or hold on fast to her tummy.