Sunday, February 24, 2013

The tuft

Sorry for the long delay between posts.  I've finished moving from North Carolina to Atlanta, though I still have much to go through and get rid of.  Life's been kind of crazy lately.

In the process of packing, I came across a small plastic container with some lemur fur.  While attending Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training & Management program, I was fortunate enough to have been assigned to the school's two ring-tailed lemurs, Obi and Janga.  Though we had many adventures over the course of the year, this brief memory comes from the very end of our relationship.  On one of my last days in the program, Janga put Obi in his place when a few classmates and I were standing nearby.  (Female dominance is the norm among many species of lemur, and especially ring-tailed lemurs.)  Following the brief spat, a tuft of Obi's fur drifted our way, and my co-trainer, Rebekah, caught it.  Knowing that it would hold a lot of meaning for me, she handed it to me and said, "Something to remember Obi by."  Indeed, it's the only physical reminder I have of my best friend.  The photos and videos I took over the course of our year together are priceless, but that small tuft of grey and brown fur is certainly one of my most cherished possessions.

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