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Ranger Rick magazine is National Wildlife Federation's award-winning children's publication for ages 7-12

Leapin' Lemurs!

In the November 2004 issue of Ranger Rick, you can read about Madi, the baby bamboo lemur. Isn't she cute?

Want to learn more about her species of lemurs? Read on!

NINE FAST FACTS ABOUT EASTERN LESSER BAMBOO LEMURS:

An eastern lesser bamboo lemur lives in a group up above the rain forest floor. The lemurs spend lots of time leaping from branch to branch.

The group of lemurs munches on bamboo early in the morning—then again in the late afternoon or early evening. They nap during the heat of the day.

Each day after their last meal, the group settles down for the night. They huddle together in a clump of bamboo or in the crotch of a tree.

Enemies of this lemur include certain owls, hawks, snakes, the fossa (a bobcat-sized mammal), and humans. When alarmed, a lemur will drop to the ground and freeze. . . or move away quietly.

A lemur mom usually has just one baby a year. Babies are born in the spring.

Grown lemurs groom each other with their teeth and tongue, picking through their fur to get rid of dead skin and tiny pests.

Mom often "parks" her baby on a branch in the middle of a thick bamboo grove. (It's such a tangled mass of branches that predators can't easily get to the baby.) She'll return from time to time to groom her baby and let it nurse.

Sometimes a slightly older lemur baby gets clingy. This happens especially when a mom is trying to wean the youngster (get it to stop nursing). The baby will hop onto Mom's neck and not want to get off. (Remember the opening photo of Madi on the back of Alena's neck?) Some moms won't allow this. So then a baby may jump onto a brother or sister in the group and hitch rides with them.

Before long, a young lemur is leaping from branch to branch on its own!

Bringing Back Puffins

Ladybug Lore

Loony Tunes

Watching Woodcocks

Helping Caribou and Other Woodland Animals

Ringtails