Comments on: Calabasas “Lemur” Spotting

By: Munnin

Munnin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:02:32 +0000

Kainan, I was going to point out the very thing you mention in my own comment – but you already did, so now I don’t have to. Thanks!

Red Pill Junkie, I agree with you that young children today have probably been presented with much more information about Lemurs than was the case in the past, and as a result the may well be less disposed toward mis-identifying some other creature as a Lemur.

By: red_pill_junkie

red_pill_junkie — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:39:20 +0000

We should give the kids the benefits of the doubt. Their generation has been exposed to many films where lemurs are predominant characters —Disney’s Dinosaurs, Dreamworks’ Madagascar 1 & 2— so the youngsters are pretty familiar to what a lemur looks like. Specially telling is the detail o the big orange eyes.

By: Kainan

Kainan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:05:00 +0000

I don’t understand why you assume the kids think they saw a ring-tailed lemur, that would then lead you to speculate on the various ring-tailed procyonids it actually could have been. The description was large, orange, with black on the tail and large yellow eyes, with a lemur face. To me that sounds nothing like a ring-tail cat, nor a raccoon, but a lot like a red ruffed lemur.

By: shumway10973

shumway10973 — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:43:18 +0000

I’m pretty sure it was a ring tail cat. I saw one as a kid here in the northern hills of California. I said something to my dad and he didn’t believe me, so we turned around and saw it there plain as day…a ring tail cat. They can actually look bigger than they really are, especially to a novice or a kid. Not to mention their ability in jumping makes them look bigger than real life.

By: gkingdano

gkingdano — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:01:25 +0000

As the public is able to have ANY wild animal as a “pet” , it could any of these and probably many more ring tail animal.

By: Jason P.

Jason P. — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:48:27 +0000

Just for the record, Calabasas is hardly ‘rural’–or even semi-rural, despite what the city logo might depict. It’s in the western part of the San Fernando Valley (the Valley of ‘Valley Girl’ fame), and, for the most part, is just another Valley suburb of Los Angeles–a very wealthy one.

It’s a popular area for people who work in the entertainment industry but want to live in a more community/family-based region, as opposed to somewhere like Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. Yes, there are parks, a lake, and some creeks in Calabasas, but it’s not like it’s some undeveloped mountain town or anything like that. You can find Fed-Ex, Starbucks, etc. there, just like in any other suburb.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:46:56 +0000

Cute little fellers and cute little story those kids told. To be honest, the funniest thing yet out of all this was seeing the lemurs atop that Winehouse wax figure. Somehow I think smart-alecky cracks will be made about that eventually.

By: northeast cryptid

northeast cryptid — Sun, 31 May 2009 12:53:42 +0000

I’m thinking ring-tail also…wait until Britney falls off the wagon again and they see her leaping and climbing their fences and trees…personally, I’d rather see a lemur or ring-tail.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:18:19 +0000

It was probably a ring-tailed cat. At first glance I suppose a ring-tail could be mistaken for a lemur. No way would a ringtail be “three feet tall with a footlong tail” though.

Maybe the boys were excited and misjudged the size. Or maybe they really did see a lemur. They are quite common as exotic pets.