November 11, 2024

"Lemurs are strange in the way that the reclusive and wealthy are strange; having had the island of Madagascar to themselves evolve in..."

"... they have idiosyncratic habits. Male ring-tailed lemurs have scent glands on their wrists, and engage in 'stink-fighting,' battles in which they stand two feet apart and wipe their hands on their tails, then shake the tail at their opponent, all the while maintaining an aggressive stare until one or the other retreats. It feels no madder than current forms of diplomacy. It’s not unusual for female ring-tailed lemurs to slap males across the face when they become aggressive."

Writes Katherine Rundell, in "Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures" (commission earned) quoted in "A Pretty Girl, a Novel with Voices, and Ring-Tailed Lemurs" (Paris Review).

Hadn't used my "animals are jerks" tag in a long time.

33 comments:

Narr said...

Ring-tailed lemurs. Them are good eatin'.

Whiskeybum said...


My daughter had the opportunity to visit Madagascar to do legal training as part of a UN program recently; she showed us photos of the many types of lemurs she encountered in her off-time travels.


And anyone who has children/grandchildren who are Wild Kratts fans can relate to the lemur stink-fights on their game app.

Whiskeybum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

I always get lemurs and meercats mixed up.

n.n said...

Inferential observations are odd manifestations of human evolution from cloud theory and the compelling need to assign labels.

Wince said...

“Animals are assholes” tag

Celebrate Greg’s Animal Friends

It turns dark pretty quick…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RHmrZ87tB78

rrsafety said...

Hmm... seems gender is innate.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

...wipe their hands on their tails, then shake the tail at their opponent, all the while maintaining an aggressive stare...

I'm betting we'll be seeing the same behavior from the blue haired cat ladies on TikTok soon.

Quaestor said...

Every hard boiled sheamus gets his mug slapped by a dame peddling a lie.

rehajm said...

Who wipes?

Melissa said...

My cat is a jerk.

Iman said...

Meanwhile, there are still 18 monkeys what escaped from a South Carolina research facility on the loose. The monkeys were being used to test the efficacy of extra-strength Viagra and authorities are advising citizens to “keep teh fuck away from ‘em, y’all!”

Justabill said...

Lemurs are strange, when you’re a stranger.

Dr Weevil said...

There's a silver lining to the fact that Ann can't ban anyone outright, but has to go in and delete comments individually. The fact that they stay up for an hour or two allows "D-- S--" to demonstrate (temporarily) exactly why her posts are invariably deleted: she really is a nasty, vicious moron who desperately needs the services of a psychiatrist, or perhaps an exorcist.

Narr said...

As long as they know the difference, things will work out.

Dr Weevil said...

How stupid do you have to be not to notice that Ann is open to all political positions, and only deletes those who repeatedly act like complete assholes and total lunatic swine, as D--- S--- has now done four more times? I believe the only people currently banned are D--- S--- (known for many years, and tens of thousands of ephemeral comments, as M--- E. G---), and Sprez---, who may in fact be the same person. Does anyone know?

Quaestor said...

@Derve Swanson

Actually, we both misspelled it. As a synonym for a private investigator as made popular by detective fiction created by such authors as Michael Collins, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and others, it's shamus.

Take a lesson from the army of pundits slain last Tuesday night: It's bad form to be pedantic and wrong.

Rabel said...

Females are dominant in Lemur troops.

"Stink fighting" happens after "stink flirting" which happens when a female is ready to breed and emits a "stink" of her own which stimulates the male response and then the Lemurian cage matches.

Girls entice boys and encourage them to fight. Just like in the Lemur troops, we are but tools of the matriarchy.

Scott Patton said...

I fart in your general direction

Rabel said...

I can't help but think that the Derve/Ann fracas has something to do with Althouse's affection for Wallace Shawn.

Scott Patton said...

Be gone italics

Quaestor said...

@Derve Yes, you were wrong. Doubly wrong in that you didn't recognize the obvious detective fiction argot in the first place in stupidly concluding "sheamus" was a proper noun and not jargon, and you incorrectly corrected me.

Rabel said...

Another day at Althouse.

Rabel said...

Mirrors are cruel, aren't they, Derve.

Lucien said...

Wait - are posters here deliberately emulating a stink fight, or is it just emergent strategy?

Quaestor said...

You are amazingly dense, Derve Swanson. You still do not grasp the difference between a proper noun, such as a personal name (btw, personal names have no orthography) and jargon. You think you're arguing with me, but you are in fact arguing with many dictionaries, The Oxford English Dictionary, for one.

Rusty said...

Yes. Lemurs are asshole but if the could of they'd have voted for Trump. Because thay aren't complete assholes.

mikee said...

The lemurs at the Austin Zoo are lovely critters and now I know why they look so often agitated. They are in a small enclosure and the stink from every past disagreement must still be present. And I will be using "Lemurian cage match" in future, it seems amazingly useful as a phrase to toss out in political discussion. The things you learn at Althouse!

Derve Swanson said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Vault Dweller said...

Stink Fighting doesn't seem as bad as Diddy Parties.

FullMoon said...

Ther View says Trmp gonna put lemures in concentration camp becord Haitians eat them

Static Ping said...

Seems a non-violent way of addressing conflicts. I think Putin and Zelenskyy would have been better off if they ate a bunch of cabbage and were forced into the same room with poor ventilation.

Tina Trent said...

It still beats the mating rituals of goats.