South Africa wildlife I
I’ve renamed my nature photoblog series from ‘Cape Town wildlife’ to ‘South Africa wildlife’, to distinguish these new occasional posts from my previous month-by-month year of wildlife posts. It’s been a long time since I last posted nature photos (9 months!), so I have a lot of special things saved up to show you, when I have time to organise and edit my thousands of photos! I’ll ease back into the wildlife blogging with a study of one of my favourite local animals…
I like to play ‘spot the chameleon’ in my garden. It’s like a real-life version of Where’s Wally/Waldo, only with a much better reward: you get to watch the tiny adorably grumpy-faced lizard after you spot him, and, because chameleons don’t dart off in a split second like geckos do, it’s much easier to take good photos.
I have no idea how many Cape Dwarf Chameleons live in, or visit, our garden. My best guess is ‘several’, and I choose to believe that they are all babies of Kermy, the chameleon I used to watch every day last year (and even fed a grasshopper to, on one magical occasion). Look how difficult it is to spot the (full-sized) Kermy:
There he is! In dark colour mode:
And in bright colour mode, with my hand for scale:
Now imagine how much more difficult the chameleon-spotting game is when they are teeny-tiny babies like this:
Awww! And it’s not just the size that makes it tricky; they change colour like crazy! Here’s another baby (these are all the same species btw, Cape Dwarf Chameleons):
Look at the amazing colours!
I was even more excited though, when I saw this completely different type of baby chameleon…
(who, incidentally, has a pretty neat way of hiding when he sees you coming…)
Where did he go?!
…only to discover the next day that his grey colouring was just skin getting ready to shed and he was a regular green chameleon all along! I could hardly believe it, but I have proof: here he is with just the nose skin left:
And then I spotted this very skinny orange baby on the same bush, so I know for sure that there are at least 2 of them:
The next day, I managed to catch one of them napping! Awwww….
Then I didn’t spot any for a couple of weeks until yesterday, when I found this one – he’s much bigger now, and starting to look more like his daddy, my old friend Kermy 🙂
You can probably tell that I’m pretty smitten with these little guys…
I almost wish I hadn’t already designed my chameleon crochet pattern last year, because I’m just not getting over this fascination, so I settled on the next best thing: I’ve designed a different lizard pattern to indulge in my newfound appreciation for reptiles. (It’s a cute one, and I’ll be revealing it very soon…)
I really hope you’ve enjoyed my chameleon photos – please leave me a comment if so. I promise I’ll try not to leave such a long gap until my next wildlife report 🙂
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P Muller said
Good afternoon,
Is your website still active?
PM
June said
Yes, it is! But I don’t live in South Africa any more, so there won’t be any more African wildlife posts… If you look through my Wildlife & Nature archives though, there are 12 posts in my Cape Town Wildlife series and 11 in my South Africa Wildlife series that you can still enjoy 🙂
Kiirsi said
I love these photos so much! My 12-year-old son does, too…he is obsessed with lizards, especially loves chameleons. Thank you so much for posting!
Caroline said
They are gorgeous photos, gorgeous subjects! Very much worth waiting for. Thank you for the glimpses.
Allie said
AHhhh these are so adorable. Such fascinating animals–you’re so lucky to have them nearby all the time!! xx
Kristy Tyra said
I love your chameleons! They are so amazing!
Arwen Lynch, Professional Joy Seeker said
I love the wildlife sharing. I’m so charmed by your chameleons in this post. 😀
Lisa Clarke said
Those guys are really a lot more adorable than I would imagine reptiles should be 🙂
Susan Carder said
I love your wildlife posts! As an earlier commenter said, “no pressure” but I would enjoy seeing more.
Thank you!
Julie said
Thanks so much for sharing these photos! It’s great to see all the different colors – I’d love to have friends like that living in my yard! I really do love your wildlife series 🙂
Angela said
These wildlife posts are some of my favorite. 🙂 Aaaaah, could those babies even BE any cuter?
Desiree said
I love the look inside your life in South Africa.
Please don’t stop, but also don’t feel any pressure. I enjoy your posts.
CrochetBlogger said
Amazing photos!
Martha said
I can sure see why you are smitten. They are such fasinating creatures. I have missed your wildlife posts. They make me feel like I’ve taken a vacation to the other side of the world. Thanks for the new post.
Simone said
Squeeeee! Those are cute little critters! Makes me want to do another chameleon with your pattern. 😉
Judy Carlson said
I just LOVE these chameleons! I’d be looking at them all the time too! Even if you only get a chance to do a wildlife post once in a blue moon, it is always a treat! I’m glad that you are getting into reptiles. I think they make great amigurumi. The crochet stitches naturally look like tiny scales. If you ever want to make a New World reptile, might I suggest the Green Iguana? They are so cute! Love their dewlaps!
Kim said
Very neat photos! Thanks for sharing them.
Alicia Brink said
Thanks for sharing your photos. I love to see the wild life from around the world.
pam said
What a treat that you shared these sweet creatures with all of us. And they live in your own backyard? Lucky you!
No wonder you are so smitten.
Alycia said
How awesome!! I’m so excited because I love chameleons and have been wanting one for a long time, but to have them living in the wild in my garden would be even better 🙂
Gillian said
I LOVE these pictures, June – I’ve missed your photographs while you’ve been unwell. I do hope you’re feeling a lot better now. Can’t wait to see the lizard pattern. I’m thinking about how to add that ridge to the spine of your chameleon pattern.
Loulou said
How interesting. You got such great pictures of them!
Johanna said
They are beautiful! Don’t you miss the snow though? Ok, maybe not. It sure is a chilly windy New England day here. Thanks for the warm looking photos!
Anna (alcatmom) said
Love the photos! The chameleons are adorable, especially the little ones!! Thanks!
Monica Ballinger (MagicalAmigurumi) said
Beautiful! Amazing! I LOVE all the new photos! So many different looks for a chameleon! and “in person”! 😀 I have missed your wildlife posts, this one was fun! Thanks June!
Susanna said
Beautiful! I love lizards, the chameleon is on my to-do list, can’t wait to see the new one too!
Lindy said
Amazing! How interesting, and great colours and brilliant photos!
Love, Lindy xx