68 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
They are related to lemurs, are nocturnal, and in Africa go under 
the name of bush babies. 
I brought a cage-trap into action and set it in the tree-tops baited 
with ripe bananas and pawpaw. These luscious cultivated fruits 
were something they had never before confronted and proved an 
irresistible lure. On inspecting the trap in the early morning I found 
it to contain a Garnett’s Galago. It was reset and on six successive 
nights produced an additional specimen. Five of these were 
females and proved to be a productive group, for each one of them 
produced a baby, some at our base camp and others on board on 
the way home. Close confinement did not affect their successful 
rearing in the slightest degree. The birth of all five within a few 
weeks of each other illustrates the very definite and restricted 
mating season of these animals. 
Before this episode, I used to go out with a hunting lamp at 
night in an attempt to track down bush babies. This is rather like a 
bicycle lamp with a strong reflector, and is strapped to one’s 
hat, while a thin rubber tube connects the lamp to an acetylene 
generator that is fixed to one’s belt. The concentrated beam of 
light is directed forward, so it follows that no matter in what 
direction the wearer turns, his eyes are looking straight along the 
beam. A dark night is the best time for this exciting experience, 
for one is soon plunged into a sea of eyes. 
Walking along a track or footpath, I turn my head slowly from 
side to side, to throw the light on every portion of the ground 
covered. There is thick bush on all sides as well as open places, 
and any animal in range will automatically, out of curiosity, look 
at the light. This intrigues but does not frighten the beast, and 
no matter if it is standing in a dense thicket, its presence will be 
revealed by the reflection from its eyes. This is remarkably strong 
so long as one’s own eyes are looking along the beam. For exam- 
ple, a person accompanying the lamp-bearer and standing close 
at his side may see nothing when an animal “lights up.” One 
quickly learns to identify the different animals by these reflections; 
this is done by intensity and color of the eyes, the space between 
them, height off the ground, their movement, and by the situation 
of the creature. 
