July 2, 2007
Many people, when we mentioned we were coming to Madagascar, either asked if it was because of the movie, or started singing the song from the movie for us (thank you, Irene). I found this funny since I hadn't actually associated the movie with the country at all. But it gave me the idea of showing it to "my kids," the Somali family I've tutored for the last three years, as a perfect last visit with them, so when we watched it the first week of May I paid closer attention. And I have to say, the animators didn't do too badly.
You remember the baby lemur in the movie, the one who's left out for the four interlopers from New York to find, and eat if they feel so inclined? The one who bursts out wailing in fright? Well, it turns out they're not babies, they're brown mouse lemurs and they're just adorable! They're nocturnal, lick the tree branches for insects with quick, slightly guilty looking dabs of their tongues, dart from tree to tree very swiftly and weigh 45 grams. (David tells me one penny weighs 5 grams, so do with that information what you will.) We managed to get quite a good video of them, so you may even eventually see them, if we ever manage to upload it.
Our video of the fossa is less clear, but it doesn't matter because the best view we got of it couldn't be captured. We were in a small clearing with about 15 other tourists and their guides, all whispering, hoping to see the nocturnal fossa, all looking at one opening in the surrounding jungle. Adrien, David and I were off to the left of the group and Adrien was explaining that there are three sizes of the fossa. We were hoping to see the medium-sized one, about the size of a well-fed cat. They eat insects, lizards and small lemurs if they can catch them. The big fossa are about the size of a well-built spaniel, but they have a much larger territory hunting for lemurs, which is why they're the villains in the movie. As Adrien was relating all of this, we noticed movement just to the left in front of us and a fossa poked his head through, looking at all of us like an actor checking out how full the house is before the curtain opens. He pulled back and then reappeared a minute later, this time where expected, looking like a sleepy and self-satisfied cat.
We went to bed a few hours later feeling quite satisfied with our night's viewing, as well.
