Flap-necked Chameleon

This is the largest chameleon (genuses Chamaeleo) I have ever seen and took pictures of it on my hand so you can get an idea of its size. When I first picked it up, it hissed at me and turned itself black in order to scare me off, but did it? No, not until I got my pictures. LOL!! Although not considered endangered, chameleons are a highly threatened group - particularly the flap-neck chameleon which inhabits populated and agricultural areas. They have many natural predators which include arboreal snakes, larger shrikes and certain raptors. Like most birds and reptiles, there is only about a two percent probability of survival to adult breeding age. The chances of successful breeding are even less.
The greatest threat to their survival comes from human activities. Destruction of habitat for development and chemical control of their (insect) food species severely restricts their range. Traditional, cultural ‘taboo’ results in unjustified persecution. Veld (grass) fires are probably the greatest killer, from which they have no escape. Their natural instinct is to climb up from danger, which takes them into the hottest part of flames. There is very likely 100 percent destruction of chameleons in a hot burn. I put it into my fishtank to crawl about and out popped this cricket to hitch a ride on its tail. :) Would you look at those claws!! A good thing he is not larger than he was or he would most likely have dug a hole in my hand with those nail. (And I thought mine were bad!! LOL!!) They are very pre-historic looking but here he was hanging on to my finger for dear life. After a while he calmed down and slowly got used to me handling him and started turning back to his natural colour. These larger chameleons lay their eggs in the soft sand soil while the dwarf (about 14 species) give birth to live young.

Lizard mating dance

These two little lizards were doing their mating dance....at least, he was.
He kept the tip of his tail in an upright position the whole time.

The female would keep on turning around while he circled her.

This kept on for at least half an hour until something scared them off and they both disappeared under some old equipment we have in the yard.

Serval (Leptailarus serval)

The serval has extraordinarily long legs for its body size which can be up to 3 feet in length, whilst standing up to 20 inches in shoulder height.
The bulk of its diet constitutes rodents, especially vlei rats. Birds, frogs, insects, small reptiles and even fish are taken to compliment the diet.

Kittens, in litters of three to four, are born in thick grass cover or underbrush. The gestation period is 68-72 days. Births often occur at the end of summer.

Elusive and shy, servals are for the most part nocturnal, hunting by sight and sound more than scent. This makes them extremely difficult to photograph. All these pictures were taken at the zoo except for the one below.

When the cubs are large enough to hunt, the mother will drive the males away from the family first. Females will stay together with the mother until they become sexually mature. Then they will be driven away by the mother so they can establish their own territories.

Solitary in habits, except when mating or when a female is accompanied by her young. Serval scent mark their large home ranges of 15 - 30 square km. Home ranges are not exclusive, but occupants avoid contact. Scent marking is conducted with urine and faeces.

The Marula Tree

Marula is a medium to large tree, usually 9 meters (25 feet) tall. It is single-stemmed with a dense, spreading crown and deciduous foliage. Fascinatingly enough, only the female trees bears fruits, while the male tree displays flower.
Marula wood has been traditionally used for carving pestles and mortars, bowls, drums, beehives and stools and even canoes in some areas. During colonial times it was even used for tomato boxes and toilet seats.

Regarded as a sacred tree in Africa, the Marula is protected in communal lands under the local chief. Because of its leafy foliage and shade-bearing size, it is popular with villages for local meetings, and often in a ploughed field will be the only tree left standing. The Marula tree is often the spiritual centre for ritual activity in kraals and villages.

The bark of the tree has medicinal properties and is used widely in treating dysentery and diarrhea, rheumatism, insect bites and a variety of other ailments. Essence from the leaves is said to provide a remedy for abscesses, spider bites and burns. Preliminary tests show weak pharmalogical activity relative to hypertension, anti-inflammation and painkilling.

There is even legend that a woman can take bark from the male or female tree to determine the sex of her next baby.

The ripe Marula fruit make a wonderful jelly that is delicious when served with meat especially lamb.

Orchids

The orchids are in bloom. This one has attached itself to a tree by the roots.
It is a large plant and I wonder that it is so secure there.
A few weeks ago it started to shoot out.
Now it is starting to open its flowers.
They are tiny, maybe one inch in length but pretty nevertheless.
These are some of the cultivated ones being sold right now.
They come in the most interesting colors.
This one unfortunately had a lot of watermarks on it but still lovely to look at.

Daisies

Today I am going to share a personal experience with you which was very funny for me: A young girl moved in next door and besides a once a week "hello" when we happen to run into each other, we have not really spoken. Yesterday, she came knocking on my door and asked me if I perhaps had space in my freezer as there was something wrong with hers and she was afraid the stuff would go off. I said sure, bring it over, I would make space for her things. She went to fetch it and we got chatting about them not making things as they used to as she had only recently bought her freezer and I invited her to sit down. I told her about my blog and the nice people on it and asked her about her work etc. After about half an hours she said that I was not at all what she expected me to be. I looked at her and she added that she had seen me outside taking pictures and she expected my house to be full of bugs and things. LOL!! LOL!! I had a great big laugh at this and showed her some of my photographs. The lesson to be learnt by this is not to judge people so quickly. Get to know them first, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. LOL!!

What will we do without our daisies in the garden to brighten up our day?

Even weeds can be beauiful - Part 2

I left this one dark on purpose as I like the effect it gives.