Sifaka Scares [Carving Pumpkins]

There was an air of anxiety in the lemur enclosure. Again. Not that Tabitha was too surprised: the lemurs hated anything new. But the importance of enrichment could not be overstated, and a part of that was introducing new items for the animals to investigate.

The items, in this case, were pumpkins. Halloween had been and gone, but stores had donated leftover pumpkins to the zoo to be used for the animals. While most were left whole for the animals to nibble on, some the staff had carved into, providing fun hiding places for the primates. Or at least they were supposed to provide fun hiding spaces.

Unfortunately, only one of the lemurs had shown interest; Vicky, the sifaka. She was the newest addition to the mix. Unfortunately, the other lemurs had shown some distrust of her, perhaps due to her strange, bounding gait. Perhaps that was why she had been quicker to approach the pumpkins – or maybe that was just her natural personality. Vicky was currently leaning up one of the posts a keeper had placed a pumpkin on top of, sticking her head through the hole in the bottom and making sounds that Tabitha could only compare to a spray bottle.

…On second thoughts, maybe the pumpkins weren’t all that were spooking the other lemurs. Sharp hoots filled the air and Tabitha glanced around to see Ciara and Cole, the two black mongoose lemurs, stood with their tails flicking, their gazes flitting anxiously between the strange figure and the entrance to their indoor enclosure just beyond her.

“Cut it out, you two, it’s just Vicky,” Tabitha scolded lightly. Shaking her head she stepped over to the pair, taking out tiny pieces of banana from the pouch she wore for this purpose. It wasn’t so much a treat as a bribe of silence. Slowly she held the banana pieces out, placing one just in front of Ciara – who disliked taking treats from the hand – before holding the other in front of Cole. He delicately picked it up, giving one final hoot at Vicky before beginning to nibble on his treat.

Vicky ducked her head out from under the pumpkin to hiss back, and Tabitha could almost see the indignation on the sifaka’s face. ‘Where’s my treat?’

“You got yours over there, and a lot more than these two at that. Don’t be greedy.”

Vicky seemed to huff before shoving her head back into the pumpkin. It seemed she was taking advantage of the gap the keepers had cut in to get at the tasty insides without chewing through the thick skin. Nearby, Rufus, the other mongoose lemur in the enclosure, began hooting as well. Tabitha rolled her eyes, not entirely convinced he wasn’t just faking for his own treat.

“If you want it, get over here,” she called to him. The young male leapt across the myriad of climbing equipment to join the others, snatching the banana slice from Tabitha before hopping further up the equipment to put a bit of distance between them. While the trio seemed to get along for the most part, they could not be referred to as ‘friends’. Rufus preferred his own space.

Now that the mongoose lemurs were dealt with, Tabitha turned around, looking for the ring-tails. Aster and Daisy were on a platform at the front of the enclosure, their backs pointedly turned to the ‘frightening’ scene behind them. On occasion one would glance around to give a warning bark before focusing back on the guests beyond, who were chuckling at the sight.

“Hey, you two!” Tabitha walked over to the platform, reaching up to pet Daisy. Aster glared at her, whipping his tail up in warning, but Daisy only closed her eyes and gave a small yawn. She didn’t mind her keeper’s touch – especially when she knew there were treats on the offering. Slowly, Tabitha held out the banana to her, and Daisy huffed excitedly, snatching it away and leaping onto the swinging platform next to the guest viewing area to eat it. The guests ‘Oohed’ at her agility and speed.

“Aster. You going to play nice?” Tabitha held the final banana piece out to him. Aster eyed it almost suspiciously, glancing over to the other lemurs, then glancing back at Vicky to give another warning bark. “Hey. No being scared of the pumpkins. Or Vicky.”

Aster gave another suspicious bark. Slowly, he reached towards the banana piece, pausing to stare at Tabitha. Tabitha carefully looked over his shoulder, making sure not to make eye contact; that upset the lemur, she knew. After another moment of hesitation, Aster snatched the banana, barked one final time and then shot over to join Daisy on the swinging platform. Daisy barked at him in irritation as the platform was sent reeling, and she leapt away to a different, more stable post, huffing bad-temperedly.

Tabitha shook her head with amusement, before approaching Vicky and crouching beside the sifaka. “You know you’re spooking the others with that noise?” she murmured. Vicky peered through the pumpkin’s eyeholes.

‘And?’

“You’re supposed to be making friends, not scaring everyone. Why don’t you try convincing them the pumpkin is safe, share it with them?”

‘Then I get less.’

“Vicky. There’s plenty for all of you to share.”

‘No.’

Tabitha rubbed the back of her head. “We can’t let you eat all this. You’ll be sick. If the others don’t try it, we’ll have to take it away, give it to someone else. Maybe the baboons.”

Vicky hissed indignantly. ‘No!’

“Yes.” Tabitha glared at her sternly.

The sifaka seemed to give a heavy sigh, removing her head from the pumpkin and staring at Tabitha for a long moment. Then she reached in with one hand and removed a loose chunk of pumpkin before beginning to approach Cole and Ciara with that strange hopping gait she had. The black mongoose lemurs stared at her suspiciously as she approached, Ciara flicking her tail up warily. Both had finished their bananas by now. Placing the pumpkin in her mouth, Vicky clambered up to join them, before taking the pumpkin and placing it on the platform in front of them.

‘For you.’

The two lemurs exchanged confused glances. Cole approached first, nibbling suspiciously at the pumpkin, gazing unwaveringly at Vicky as he did. Tabitha bit back a chuckle – it was as if the lemur expected Vicky to lash out any second. But after a few moments he forgot about the sifaka, surprised by the delicious taste of the pumpkin.

‘Try!’ he signalled to Ciara.

Like Cole, Ciara approached suspiciously. She reached out to snatch the pumpkin chunk away, ignoring Cole’s indignant hoot as she did, before nibbling on the tip of it.

‘Tasty,’ she commented after a while.

‘More. Down there.’ Vicky indicated where the pumpkins had been placed, communicating in short movements and sounds – the way the animals often spoke when uncomfortable around others. ‘Feast.’

Cole was now feeling more confident by the second, and leapt down from the platform to approach the pumpkins. He cautiously avoided those with the strange shapes carved within them, distrustful of their unusual shadows, instead focusing on the intact ones. He selected one of decent size, pawing at it for a moment in confusion. It was clear he didn’t really know what to do with it.

‘Show.’ Vicky approached, slower than normal, and reached forward to begin nibbling on the skin. ‘Bite off skin. Inside nicer.’

Seeing Cole doing fine, Ciara began to approach as well. Tabitha glanced over to see the guests watching the pair, unaware of how big a moment this was for the group; this was the first meaningful communication between the lemurs. Aster and Daisy, too, were observing closely, their heads tilted slightly.

Cole had managed to make a small hole in the pumpkin skin, reaching the flesh and giving a small chirrup of delight. ‘Tasty!’

Vicky had been working on the other side and now stepped aside to let Ciara take her place, eyes half-closed in bliss. As Tabitha watched, Daisy and Rufus also began to approach the pumpkins, though they gave Vicky a wider berth and chose to try their own pumpkins, following Ciara and Cole’s example in chewing on the skin to reach the flesh within.

Now, only Aster kept his distance. He clearly was interested, wondering what was so interesting. After a long moment, Vicky began to approach, holding another chunk of pumpkin in her hand. Tabitha held her breath. Was the cautious lemur going to accept Vicky.

Nope. With an angry bark, Aster shot up the fence and leapt off into the shelter box, glowering down at the sifaka and other lemurs. Whatever was going on, he wanted no part in it; it was altogether far too much for him. Vicky glanced up at Tabitha, still holding the pumpkin.

‘I tried.’

“Not your fault,” Tabitha reassured her. Seeing Daisy seemed to be struggling to break into her pumpkin, Tabitha gestured towards her. “Why don’t you try and help Daisy instead?”

With what looked almost like a shrug, Vicky hopped over towards the other ring-tailed lemur. Tabitha smiled and watched. Thankfully, the lemur group seemed to be finding some form of harmony – aside from Aster. Still, she had hopes. Maybe some day the male ring-tailed lemur would one day learn to accept the odd sifaka – or at least tolerate her.

Meanwhile, she had other duties to carry out. Quietly, she let herself out of the lemur enclosure, pausing only to place a few more banana pieces on various platforms for the lemurs to find and enjoy later. With a brief wave to the guests, she hurried on her way.