The weekend is upon us but before we go off and relax for two days, let’s take a quick visit to Madagascar.  We need to go there on this beautiful Friday to learn about the Grey Mouse Lemur.  Yes, I realize we talked about a primate yesterday but I had so much fun that I wanted to do it again.  Besides, Lemurs and Fridays go together like spaghetti and meatballs. Looking at the picture you will easily be able to tell that this animal gets their name from their appearance and their small size.

The Grey Mouse Lemur can get up to 28 cm (11″) long which makes it one of the smallest primates in the world.  Although compared to the other Mouse Lemur species on the island, this guy is a giant.  Okay, so maybe it isn’t that drastic but they are the largest of the mouse lemurs living in Madagascar.  Even though they don’t grow very big the Grey Mouse Lemur still likes to have plenty of room to stretch out.  They generally have territory sizes up to 5 acres.  That is quite a bit of tropical forests for such a small animal to occupy.  Man, imagine the retail price on 5 acres of tropical forest in Madagascar.  Those lemurs are sitting on a gold mine!

You may have been able to tell by the eyes that the Grey Mouse Lemur is a nocturnal primate.  They spend the days hanging out in the tops of the trees where it safe only to come out at night to feed.  And believe me this particular lemur will feed on anything.  Since they are an omnivore they will eat plants, berries, insects, rodents….basically whatever it finds.  While roaming around their nice piece of property they need to be careful for intruders such as eagles, hawks, snakes, owls and of course the highly specialized Lemur predator, the Fossa.  An encounter with any one of these animals could be a death sentence for the cute little lemur.

Grey Mouse Lemur Fast Fact – Although the Grey Mouse Lemur prefers to hunt alone they will often come together during the day to rest.  I suppose sleeping in numbers would offer a little bit of protection.  Speaking of needing protection, even though the population density of the Grey Mouse Lemur on Madagascar is high they are still considered to be threatened on the IUCN list.

Okay folks, that does it for me this week.  Have a great weekend and I will see all of you bright and early Monday morning.