Animals in KBC

KBC is filled with wildlife.  This includes vervet monkeys (directly below), crazy baboons, a plethora of birds that make the need for an alarm clock in the morning obsolete, adorable bush babies that come out every evening from their nests, spiders as big as your hand (there was one above my banda mate's bed this morning that I attempted to catch but it was too big for the opening of my water bottle and got away- ya.  That big!), numerous species of poisonous snake including black mambas, red crowned spitting cobras, puff adders and pit vipers, reptiles galore, and a pair of monogamous territorial dik dik's (which are tiny antelopes that don't even reach the height of my knees and come out only at night- hence why I don't have a picture of them posted).  Hyenas, lions, elephants, giraffe and other megafauna can be found just outside of the camp fence.  

There are two baboon troops that have recently moved into KBC grounds and are fighting for the territory.  Frequently I find myself not being able to continue down a path because it is blocked by one or many of them in the trees and on the ground.  All I can do is wait for them to move or turn around.  They have figured out races of humans and are very skittish around Kenyan men and women because they chase them with sticks, but could care less about mzungus.  In fact, I'm sure they'd come after us if given the chance.  Baboons are very smart and inquisitive creatures.  Whenever we leave KBC on a field trip, they come into the camp and try getting into our bandas and the chumba.  Many times they also just sit in the middle of our 'court yard' in a circle like this is their territory, which is emphasized by their human-looking territory scat piles they leave at our front doors.  The other day, actually, we found a very human-like poop pile in one of the showers that was left open and it was most definitely left by a baboon, though it's always fun to blame stuff like that on the youngest members of our class :D.

If you've ever been close to a baboon though, aka close enough to see the iris of their eye, you'll be fascinated.  Their eyebrows are so expressive and move constantly and their eyes dart back and forth constantly trying to figure out what we are doing; they live in large family groups in which both the mothers and a male are responsible for their offspring; and they assume some of the most ridiculous positions while sleeping that appear so human like that giggling is never an option but a necessity.

We also have an owl at KBC who has claimed this tree as his own.  He sits up in it almost all day every day.  He is a vreaux owl, one of the largest owl species in the world.  

Several different species of hornbill frequent our grounds.

This is a superb starling.  They are absolutely obnoxious birds and are everywhere but they sure are beautiful.

And the bush babies....

...Every night they come out of their nest and go flying from their home tree to this neighbor.  They are the size of baby bunnies but can jump up to twelve feet!