११ नोव्हेंबर, २०२४

"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.

३३ टिप्पण्या:

Narr म्हणाले...

Ring-tailed lemurs. Them are good eatin'.

Whiskeybum म्हणाले...


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 म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Curious George म्हणाले...

I always get lemurs and meercats mixed up.

n.n म्हणाले...

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

Wince म्हणाले...

“Animals are assholes” tag

Celebrate Greg’s Animal Friends

It turns dark pretty quick…

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

rrsafety म्हणाले...

Hmm... seems gender is innate.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

...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 म्हणाले...

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

rehajm म्हणाले...

Who wipes?

Melissa म्हणाले...

My cat is a jerk.

Iman म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

Lemurs are strange, when you’re a stranger.

Dr Weevil म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

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

Dr Weevil म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

@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 म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

I fart in your general direction

Rabel म्हणाले...

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

Scott Patton म्हणाले...

Be gone italics

Quaestor म्हणाले...

@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 म्हणाले...

Another day at Althouse.

Rabel म्हणाले...

Mirrors are cruel, aren't they, Derve.

Lucien म्हणाले...

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

Quaestor म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

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

mikee म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...
ब्लॉग प्रशासकाने ही टिप्पण्णी हटविली आहे.
The Vault Dweller म्हणाले...

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

FullMoon म्हणाले...

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

Static Ping म्हणाले...

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 म्हणाले...

It still beats the mating rituals of goats.