10 Things we should know about the tarsier
« on: October 05, 2007, 08:11:54 PM » Quote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me share a few of the things I learned from the full-length documentary on the tarsier that I translated into Japanese for a primetime TV program to be aired sometime this month in Japan. In the program, a Japanese actress had a five-day homestay with the family of Lito who is in charge of the Tarsier sanctuary.
1. The local term for the tarsier is Maumag (as in "maumag ikaw")
2. The word tarsier is derived from the word "tarsus" which refers to "proximal segment of the foot" or "tarsal" which refers to the bone or joint of the foot.
3. The tarsier can rotate its neck 180 degrees.
4. Unlike the human eyes, the tarsier's eyeballs do not move so they have to rotate their neck to see objects to their side. (Imagine tarsiers having an EB covering themselves with--leaves, of course.)
5. Tarsiers are extremely shy and when cornered by bigger animals or humans, bang their head on hard surfaces and hold their breath in an act similar to suicide.
6. People used to believe that tarsiers feed on charcoal. That's because they frequent the kaingin and have been seen by kaingeros to clamp charcoal between their teeth. But Lito explained that tarsiers frequent the kaingin because one or two weeks after the field is burned, new lush green grasses grow which attract crickets and other small insects that tarsiers feed on. Kaingeros who saw tarsiers biting on charcoal were seeing their reaction of fright at predators--as they bite on anything, including a captor's hands, when cornered.
7. Tarsiers live from 20 to 25 years in their natural habitat. They live at most 7 to 10 years in captivity.
8. Tarsiers mark their territory with a strong body odor (neither cologne nor perfume, I suppose).
9. An effective way to pacify a frightened or flustered tarsier is to blow their eyes gently and fondle them on the back. Lito says this also works for other pets and animals. This also works for upset or colicky babies. You can try this on your partner as well. (Does this work on anyone? Somebody says blowing your partner's ears works better.)
10. If you put a male and a female tarsier in a cage, they will not copulate. You have to give the male tarsier two female tarsiers to choose from and then the male will initiate mating behavior with one of the female partners. (To the pairless TB members, does this seem like human behavior? Let's
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=5460.0