Locomotion & Stuff

Since I’m on the subject of nutritional wisdom, I want to share something I read in a scientific article yesterday. Did you know that of the over 200,000 species of plants on earth, humans eat only a few thousand. Of those plants only a few hundred have been domesticated. Of those, a dozen account for 80% of the annual production of all crops. Some how that doesn’t sound wise. Why have we limited our choices and our dietary repertoire? I think most people eat only highly palatable food. If it doesn’t taste good, why eat it?! Perhaps not all things that are good for us, taste great. I’ve tried some of the foods the baboons eat and I’d be hard pressed to say that any of them taste good, but perhaps their sense of taste is different than mine. I keep a running list of all the things I’ve seen them eat – they added two new items to the list last week. I hope they’ll continue to add more.

I also mentioned that I keep track of locomotion. In my iPAC I note whether they walk, run, climb, or are sitting resting or lying resting. Last night must have been a busy one for them. I don’t usually see the baboons sleeping during the day, but one sub-adult male laid his head on a rock and went to sleep sitting up. Another watched me for awhile, decided I wasn’t a threat and laid down and went to sleep.
At the moment they're foraging very far from the reserve. I wonder how the juveniles & injured individuals keep up. One day last week I saw them across the valley to our neighbors property. I hiked down a steep ravine, across the river and up the where I'd seen then on the other side. I arrived just in time to see them moving further up hill. I arrived there in time to see them cross the top of a waterfall. I crossed the waterfall and could see them walking down the side of the mountain. I followed them down the side of the mountain. Yikes! They had made it look so easy. I was clinging to small bushes & vines hoping one didn't give way or I'd be falling a very long way down. I finally came to a plateau where I could see them moving with ease down to the valley I had spied them at first thing this morning. Sighhh... I secretly wish I could move like a baboon.