I am so lucky to be able to see them every night! Yup, these small creatures are nocturnal – meaning they only come out at night/evening. There is a family of 9 that live around our house and they say hello each night before they set off to forage for the night for bugs, crickets, grasshoppers, and all other little bug they can catch!

They are the smallest of the monkey family called Lesser bush babies. They are so adorable! Look at those little fingers perfect with fingernails.

●They’re brilliant at leaping due to their powerful hind legs which they use to balance. They have primate hands and feet. The ends of their fingers and toes have almost suction like cups to help them grip. They can leap horizontally almost 4 meters/yards and vertically almost 2 meters/yards. On the ground they leap like kangaroos.

●They sleep most of the day and forage at night. Their eyes cannot move, so they compensate by being able to rotate their heads 180 degrees.

They will urinate on their hands which is good for 2 purposes. To scent mark, as well as increase their cling to trees.

A bush baby has 25 distinct sounds for communicating. They have different sounds for alerting to different predators.

We see the family waking up at dusk and they begin their forage. We sometimes will give them a treat of bananas before they set off to the wild to forage. It is funny to stand and watch them grabbing and catching bugs.

They will also eat fruit in the wild. In our area there are many fruit orchards.

I love to look around the house during the day, to find them sleeping. Usually they are outside the bedroom on the roof ledge which in the summer breeze they like to stick their head over in the wind. They make me smile. If we leave the windows and doors open sometimes we find critters inside making themself at home in the cooler parts of the house. lol. How could one say No to that face? lol.

If I am outside in the evening, I can call out – “Where are my little babies?” and they usually come hopping over to say hello and good evening. It is easy to spot them when you shine a flashlight because their eyes glow red in the trees.

They do have to be extra cautious as they become prey to owls, nighttime cats like genets, snakes, and such. Their eyes and ears are always on high alert.