Skip to main content

Baboon Sleeping Habits


A baboon takes a short power nap in Tsavo East National Park Kenya

From cliffs to trees and rocky outcrops, baboons are fairly adaptable when it comes to finding a comfortable spot to sleep in. Being generally light sleepers, they are agile enough to sleep on any odd shaped tree branches, and it is here, that they enjoy some short five minute power naps during the day within the sanctity of their ever watchful troop. 

At sunset, they retire to their regular and much safer sleeping sites where they tuck in for the night. These safe sleeping sites are usually found along the walls of cliffs or at the top of tree canopies where the troop feels safer from predators such as lions and leopards. Most baboons will sleep lightly through the night in an upright sitting position, as it seemingly keeps them alert and prepared to spring into action if needed to either raise an alarm, run away or to protect their babies and defend themselves.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lions Mating Up Close In Kenya

This lion and lioness are mating really close to the road.

The Unique Looking Guitar Fish

Guitar Fish resting on the sea bed One of the most interesting characteristics about the guitar fish is its unique body shape. It seemingly looks like a cross between a shark and a ray - with its flattened ray like head yet it has a long shark like body with dorsal fins - but this fish is actually a classification of its own and has about 50 subspecies.  The guitar fish prefers to remain tranquil on the sea bed, partly covering itself with sand to camouflage itself for any unsuspecting prey such as crabs or small fish that may come past it. Reaching sizes of approximately two meters in length, they are quite docile so can easily be approached by underwater photographers.

The Roughness Of A Lions Tongue

A lions tongue has numerous tiny spines called papillae Pet lovers with a domestic cat at home will relate to this story quite well, as they would have had their hands or fingers licked by their cat's tongue at some point or another. A lion’s tongue is no less different in design to that of a house cats, with the exception that its sheer size and heaviness would make a lions tongue as rough and harsh as sandpaper! But why is the lions tongue so rough and how is this beneficial? The reason for its roughness is that the surface of the lions tongue is covered in many tiny spines called papillae, which are further divided into 3 types namely; Filiform, Fungiform and Vallate papillae. The cats filiform papillae which is located on the tongues dorsal surface, is the main reason for the roughness, and these can also be compared to barbs since they face backwards in the direction of the throat.  Having a barbed tongue is beneficial to the lion for a number of reasons. I...