Week 4 of Chit Chat on Victoria's Pages of Romance - Nature Making Art #VAchitchat

Last week I talked about nature and art. The beauty nature can make - like Jack Frost creating wondrous patterns on my window.
This week I'm talking about this
 This was painted by two black and white ruffed lemurs named - Kronk and Herschel. The photo below just shows what this type of lemur looks like.


My daughter is a volunteer tour guide at the Duke University Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina. She explained that the technicians put the canvases on the floor and pots of paint around then let the lemurs into the area. How do the lemurs paint? The technicians throw handfuls of Craisins around the area and the lemurs bolt for them. They love Craisins. In the process they step in paint and on canvas. The lemur center then sells the painting to help raise funds.

The Lemur Center is a research facility where they study lemurs and their habitat. It is the largest collection of lemurs outside of their homeland Madagascar. It is a fascinating place, where they treat the animals with love and respect. Some are in cages, for their safety or health concerns, but most live a massive fenced in forest and can run wild as they would in Madagascar.

Last week, while my daughter was guiding her tour group, it was announced that Pompeii had delivered her daughter. My daughter snapped a quick photo- with her cell phone and she kept a respectable distance not to stress the new mom. It is mother and daughter sunning themselves. The baby lemur is hard to see - she's only an hour old. If you have a child or grandchild - you might know of the TV character Zoomoomafu. He was a Duke U lemur. Sadly, he died a few weeks ago. But the baby Pompeii is holding is his granddaughter.


So if you ever visit Durham, NC, visit the Duke University Lemur Center - my daughter might be your tour guide.

Link to Lemur Center