I couldn’t remember when last I saw a chameleon when I saw this little guy. Taken a little while ago, I was on a drive through the Kragga Kamma Game Park just outside Port Elizabeth when my eye caught a slight movement on the road (well, more like a two track path). I stopped and there it was, slowly making his way across the road. I didn’t want somebody to drive over him, so I made sure there were no animals close to us and I jumped out of the vehicle and picked him up and moved him to a branch on the side of the road. I remember a time when I was small when we often saw them where we lived. Pity their habitat is slowly disappearing like this.
The Southern Dwarf Chameleon is part of the species of Bradypodion, meaning “slow-footed”. It is one of six genera of chameleons within the “true” or “typical” chameleons. Bradypodion (of which there are various sub species) is native to southern Africa, and are sometimes collectively called South African dwarf chameleons. The Southern Dwarf Chameleon is found in the Eastern Cape province from the coast into the drier Karoo.
Good for you looking out for this little guy. I’ve only seem them in pictures and on tv. Of course if a lion had bounded out of the bush it might not have been go good 🙂
By the way, I get an error message when I try to join your fan club. I’ll keep trying.
Gosh Ive never seeen one of these other than on TV, its amazing, fantastic little guy or gal, great shot.
WOW! I haven’t seen one of those in years! We used to have one living in our garden when we kids in the Free State! Nice blog!
Gosh, that little fellow blends right into his surroundings, doesn’t he? My mother used to talk about those little chameleons. She also used to tell us stories about a thing called a trap door spider.The cave drawings in your earlier post are beautiful! I have always thought it so interesting how cave drawings were almost universal. It makes me wonder if it had been a talent that was passed on from one group to another.
Oh, I love these little guys! Finding one in the garden was one of the biggest sources of excitement to us as kids. I love their Afrikaans name – trapsuutjies!