Bushbaby Returns
Category: bush baby | Date: Jun 12 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hi there, a while ago we were blogging about our midnight feasters… up to 3 bushbabies that climbed through our kitchen window under the cover of darkness to share our bananas! One of them was missing one his front legs which may be why he was such a common visitor for some easy pickings, but remained agile enough to leap around the kitchen with banana in mouth - he or she (they move too quick to be able to work out!) was named Yardy after a few suggestions… three feet in a yard!
However since March they had been notable by their absence and we were beginnig to wonder what had happened to them, hoping it was simply that with the arrival of the rains they were finding their food easily enough elsewhere. Bushbabies, in our case the small-eared galago, are nocturnal foragers of gums, flowers, seeds, fruits and insects so they have a diverse menu to choose from. They are also a little partial to alcohol, or at least fermenting fruits, and where I worked in Tanzania before, the swahili phrase ‘kama komba’ (like a bushbaby) was the local equivalent of ‘pissed as a newt’… a term for someone who it a little too drunk!
Anyway, the pleasing news for us at least, is that over the last few nights one of the bushbabies has been back to supplement its diet with our bananas and we don’t mind one bit! No confirmed sightings of Yardy yet, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on our kitchen window before bedtime once again, and will be sure to let you know!
Close Encounters of the Small Kind
Category: Coastal Forest, Small mammals, Small-eared Galago, Suni, bush baby | Date: Mar 18 2009 | By: gvikenya
Hello again everyone
Well I hope you’ve enjoyed the last couple of blogs from some of the other members of GVI here in Kenya. I thought I’d do this one myself, to tell you about the exciting night we had.
Last night we embarked on our second night sleeping out in Shimoni East Forest. This being our second time, we were even better prepared (with spare batteries for the torches this time!) and had another awesome night.
We headed in at about 6pm, when the forest is bathed in that amazing orange light, and the temperature has fallen to a slightly more pleasant level. We headed east for about half a kilometer, approximately in the middle between transect 1 and 2. We went back to the same spot we went to last week; a rather convenient natural clearing that is (almost) devoid of coral rag. After collecting deadwood and preparing a safe spot for our cooking fire (we want to leave as little evidence of us being there as possible), we all laid out our roll mats and made ourselves comfortable.
The forest is such an amazing place to be as the sun is setting; you get the feeling all the creatures of the day are winding down, and you get that period of about 20 minutes where there is silence and calm. Then once the sun has set, all the night noises begin…
After an incredible dinner of nyama choma (BBQ’d meat!), we all gathered our torches, whistles and compasses and headed off for a night walk deeper into the forest.
A.P - A former student of the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute - getting ready to cook dinner
We were not to be disappointed! About 5 minutes after leaving we head a noise just to the right of us. We all spun around and shone our torches to where the sound came from, and standing right there, no more than 3.5 metres away from us, was a suni! A Suni (Neotragus moschatus) is a tiny antelope with long, slender legs, that stands no more than 30-40cm off the ground. It was immediately stunned by the torchlight, allowing us an unbelievably close view of a usually very shy antelope. It then proceeded to walk slowly around the area, foraging on nearby leaves, never going more than 6 or 7 metres away from us. We watched it in silence for at least 10 minutes. It was, hands down, the best sighting of a suni I have ever had!
The suni!
We carried on the walk, our spirits soaring, and were lucky enough to get a brief sighting of a small-eared galago (bushbaby), and another suni, although it simply didn’t compare to the first one!
Its eyes reflect the torchlight
Suni decides to start moving away
We then headed back to camp, and joined Adam (the unfortunate one who drew the short straw and had to stay back to watch the fire), where we all lay around the dying embers, and fell asleep to the sounds of the forest.
It was the second successful camp out in the forest, and I’m pretty convinced this is going to become a regular activity!
That’s all from me for now, I’ll be back soon!
Regards,
Matt
Tags: , bushbaby, night walks, Small-eared Galago, Suni
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