| Haller Park Night life |
| November 30, 2007 |
Several of you have been asking about Stephen: Jambo all! I’m still here, but I’m glad the responsibility for the blog has been taken over by the team! it leaves me more time to spend with the animals 
Stephen with the bush babies at night Here I am feeding bushbabies. These are small monkey-like creatures, active at night, with big eyes, good hearing and very loud voices. They feed on fruits, insects, birds eggs & chicks.They got used to coming for bananas early evenings during the time we hand-reared several bushbucks and duikers, and fed them – amongst other things – bananas. We got puzzled when we found banana peel left over in the morning, while during the day the bushbucks were eating bananas peel and all. Hiding ourselves one evening, we saw the bushbabies. Later on genet cats, giant pouched rats and even the Sudan Plaited Lizards would come for their bananas in the evenings. Over the almost 15 years we have been doing this we must have taken care of several generations! 
Stephen feeding a Duiker Some of the bushbuck and duikers we released from the smaller enclosure where we reared them, and they still come back every few days for their share of dairy cubes, bananas and carrots, and it is my last duty and pleasure for the day to feed those animals of the night. Sometimes Sabine joins me, when she gets time, to keep in touch with the animals we have brought up together. 
Genet Cat in Haller Park We are planning to start night walks for special visitors again next year, so that they can also experience Haller Park at night, which is such a different world compared to daytime! Different animals are out which you can’t see during the day, the sounds and scents of nature are much stronger as sight is obviously limited, and all this makes you feel much closer to and part of nature! 
Mzee in the Kaya |
Comments
| Aja |
| Cute,pritty,majistic so much more I can say!!! |
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| Carolyn from NC, USA |
| Does Mzee miss having Owen around? |
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| Debbie |
| We love owen and mzee and my children read the book over and over again |
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| Sabine, LES |
| Dear all, thanks for your comments.
Let me respond to some questions, and remarks:
Oyama - you asked about Genet Cat's food: insects, lizards, geckos, and birds in all phases of their lives - eggs, chicks, and accessible adult birds. One single genet once got into one of our gunieafowl cages, and killed 12 of them, ate the heads of about 6 if I remember right, and carried all the carcasses to the entrance of her nest under a big rock. A few weeks later we saw her (it must have been the same one!) bring her cubs to our night feeding site to teach them about the banana place ...
Chris asked about the weather here: you will envy us (I just read about the ice storms in parts of US) - it is hot, around 30oC during the day, sometimes it rains which makes the heat feel heavy. But we are happy about the rain: it is good for our trees!
Daria was wondering how Giant Pouched Rats look like - like big rats, but part of the tail white, other grey. And pouches on the throat which they can stuff with food until their face looks totally bloated. Wish I'll get a picture - but they come rarely these days.
And Mollie - yes, we are fortunate and we appreciate! It is so good to go down to the park after a hectic day in the office, and be part of our animals lives for a moment ... feel part of nature for a moment... |
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| Sandy from Dallas, TX |
| Stephen! Good to hear from you! Thank you for taking a bit of time to chat. The night animals featured are all beautiful creatures. I can imagine a difference to Haller Park at night. How wonderful! Thanks for sharing the photos. |
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| Barb in NY |
| Great updates! I'm still so glad that the blog is continuing. I think the team approach is working very well! It's very good to hear from Stephen; never stopped to think how difficult the solo stewardship of the blog must have been. Thank you again, so much, Sabine and Lafarge and all, for continuing this wonderful window into Haller Park and the lives of all it nurtures.
Mzee is looking very handsome in the picture. |
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| oyama naku |
| It's great to hear from you Stephen. You are so dedicated to these animals and your work and your blog fans. Your experience with the animals, your magnetic influence on people with this experience and the unique way you write about it had fans all over the world clamor for you. And now your fans understand why you have to get away from the blog from time to time. But oh, IT'S SO GREAT TO SEE AND HEAR FROM YOU. Mzee looks soooo healthy. The top of his shell looks healed too. I admire that dedicated workers of Haller Park to make sure these animals are well taken care of. Truly the genet cat photo is awesome! What do the genet cats eat (I know it's a carnivore, nevertheless I'd be interested to know.)
THANK YOU STEPHEN! |
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| Angela from Rogersville, MO USA |
| Stephen! How wonderful to hear from you again - we missed you! Thank you for taking a few minutes and writing an update about Haller as well as yourself. The night tours sound like they would be so much fun; I wish I could go! I love the pictures, as always, but the Genet cat is my favorite. He's a beautiful animal. Mzee is looking very happy and well, too. Thank you again, so much! God bless! |
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| David from Paris, Europe |
| Beautiful update. It is nice to see you again, Stephen. Thank you so much for the Mzee picture. I didn't recognize him immediatly because he looked taller than usual, standing up on his legs. I like his "collar", is he trying out a camouflage ?... Thank's again for the "night view" of Haller Park's residents. |
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| Valerie |
| It's so nice to see the blog back again! I heard your birthday Stephen is December 10th. I would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday! |
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| Peter |
| It's so wonderful to hear from Stephen again, I personally don't like 'the editorial team' its just not the same as The Keeprs Diary - Stephen it's your blog....I hope your BOSS and the others will let you continue to post here. |
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| Lisa in Orange |
| Loved the pictures!! And so great to hear from Stephen again. And the bush babies are so cute! |
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| Lisa from Boston, MA, USA |
| fantastic photos! Love the long tail on the Genet cat :-) |
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| Christine, md |
| Oh Stephen, how wonderful to hear from you!!! I am glad to see you are well (and Mzee too!) |
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| Chris in Los Angeles |
| Stephen...I am so glad to see you post again. I am happy that the others at Haller Park will post as well...the more the merrier, and you can get on with your work. That is, of course, as long as you do not forget us....
Mzee looks good from his photo. Thanks!
Thanks to you and all at Haller Park for continuing the blog... and thanks to your parent company, Lafarge Ecosystems as well. We appreciate their commitment to service. |
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| Rosalynd from Massachusetts |
| Where's Jim? Not like him to miss a new post! |
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| Chris from Kentucky |
| Thanks for the great pictures and update, Stephen. What is your weather like there this time of year? |
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| Rosalynd from Massachusetts |
| I love the image of Stephen and Sabine feeding the animals they have cared for together for years as their last task of a busy day. Jambo, Stephen. Jambo, Mzee. (Mzee loooks great, by the way!) Thanks for the new update & great photos! |
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| NYC Owen & Mzee Fan |
| Wonderful update - I love the genet photo. Thanks so much to Stephen and the team for keeping the blog going. |
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| Tonia - SC, USA |
| Stephen, it is wonderful to hear from you!! I am so glad that you are doing well, and thank you so much for the picture of Mzee. I hope to see him in person someday! |
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| Kathy in Caifornia |
| So great to see Stephen and Mzee again!! Both looking fantastic. Yes, life is good. Thank you. |
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| Daria from Boston, MA |
| Welcome Stephen! What wonderful photos. I would love to go on a night time tour there - it sounds so interesting! A giant pouched rat - I can't even imagine it! Great photos and good to see Mzee - he looks in fine fettle! Hope all is well with you and your family and thanks again! |
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| Cathy - Washington state |
| Stephen: It's so good to hear from you. Thanks for the photos. Mzee is looking great! |
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| Dennis from Lansing, Mich. |
| Thanks so much for resuming the blog and pictures! It's wonderful to see and hear about a place I probably will never get a chance to visit. (And educational, too!) |
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| Mollie from Georgia |
| How fortunate Stephen, Sabine and the others are to live and work with so many extraordinary animals in the natural environment that suits them best. Thanks so much for sharing these moments with us. |
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| kim - alexander ny |
| glad all is well and good to hear from our old friends stephen and see mzee as well - i envy your job - how great that the last thing you get to do in the evening is to feed and take care of all our friends at haller park - thanks for wonderful pictures |
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