Cool Animal Meme

Danica of Belgrade and Beyond tagged me for this at least two weeks ago, and I have had notes for it lying around at least a week. Since I am so late to the party, as usual, I will not continue the meme by tagging any of the rest of you reading this. Please do take this opportunity to tell us about your animals, however, if you have not already been tagged.

An interesting animal I had

A chameleon, the African version of the iguana, and a reptile as opposed to the amphibian which we call by this name here in the United States. The color of the African chameleon changes over months to years to match its most common surroundings. I cannot recall giving him a name and he actually spent most of his time outside on a tree rather than inside of our house when we lived in Ibadan, Nigeria.

An interesting animal I ate

I actually do not know what this was, but once again it was in Nigeria. The animal was brought to us already roasted on a skewer and looked something like a mongoose or a large rat. It may have been what is called a "grasscutter." This was when we lived in the tiny hamlet of Isundirin for a few months. The villagers all had specific trades and this animal was captured and cooked by the village hunter.

An interesting animal in the museum

Tetrabelodon, a "four tusker" elephant from the late Tertiary. There are several of these and many partial skeletons at the State Museum on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. I was there last summer grading Advanced Placement (AP) examinations in Environmental Science.

An interesting thing I did with or to an animal

I rode a camel at Kano in northern Nigeria. I recall my brother's camel ride with more clarity, probably because I was watching him. It also may be that I was tired that day having already begun to succumb to the tropical parasite which was diagnosed once we returned to the United States.

An interesting animal in its natural habitat

This will be a bit more mundane. I fondly recall the river otter on a small lake in western Massachusetts where my family spent part of each summer. One year I spent hours observing them in their habitat as part of the Nature merit badge I was earning as a boy scout.