Monday, March 29, 2010

Nesting Chameleon


Sometimes the most remarkable sightings happen in the least expected places. The garden for instance. Now I must add that I do not live out in the absolute wilds anymore but I have the likes of Egyptian cobra, Narina Trogon and a wide variety of other creatures in my garden and in the hills at the back, even Leopard.

A few days ago I stumbled onto this scene. A Flap Necked Chameleon in the process of laying its eggs. To say that this animal was inching forward as it dug its nest would be optimistic; they’re not exactly known for their speed, are they? From the time I observed it the first time it took about 24 hours to finish the job of digging its hole in rain soaked soil to laying the eggs and covering up the hole again and departing, never to see its own young again. Now in about 220 odd days they eggs would hatch and the youngsters will emerge. Its marked on my calendar so watch this space.


A very tired chameleon covering up its nest with soil and plant material the following morning.

Where all the action took place. Slap bang in my garden.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Good eyes Albie and a great sighting!