Under the charm of Chameleons

I haven't seen a Chameleon in my garden for about 10 years now. In fact, I can't remember when last I even saw one in the wild.Two decades ago I used to encounter them on virtually a daily basis and I can still remember the thrill every time I watched them change colour or catch a fly. Progress, loss of habitat, veld fires and the illegal trade in Chameleons all play a big factor in their plummeting numbers. I don't even have any photographs of one, except a very old one from about 15 years ago, taken in my garden, as he was scuttling for cover. So I've resorted to sketching and painting them.

There are about 200 species of chameleon with 19 recognised species in South Africa. They are found all over Africa and Madagascar, with a very few occurring in Europe or the Arabian Peninsula. There are no true chameleons in America except, interestingly, a species of chameleon that was imported into Hawaii and has now established a flourishing population there.

Having chameleons in the garden is very beneficial. They eat all the goggas and pests that gardeners don’t like and not only that, they are wonderful little animals, perfectly adapted to their lifestyle of camouflage and ambush. And there are some things we can do to help preserve this species, like refusing to buy them from street hawkers and creating a chameleon-friendly garden. I came upon this interesting article by Kay Montgomery published on IOL Lifestyle in 2014, and thought I would publish some of it here to help spread the word and save these wonderful little creatures.

The most important fact about chameleons is they need a fairly large area in which to roam. In Johannesburg, gardeners are being encouraged to link up chameleon-friendly gardens in a single neighbourhood. It is hoped that these gardens will merge to create corridors of chameleon habitat which will make it possible for populations of chameleon to flourish.

Here are some tips for developing a chameleon-friendly garden:

• Reduce your lawn. To a chameleon, a large lawn is a giant desert. It contains no food, has no perches and no protective cover.
• Thin out your trees. A garden filled with trees with low-hanging branches is a nightmare for chameleons. The branches of trees (pines and oaks in particular) are too thick for the chameleons to move along. They attract little insect life and offer no nectar.
• Plant large thin-stemmed shrubs. Heaven for chameleons is a garden filled with a dense under-storey of shrubs with a range of perch sizes for juveniles and adults.
• Provide food. Chameleons eat small insects such as moths, butterflies, flies, fruit flies, aphids, woodlice, beetles, spiders and small grasshoppers. 

The best way to attract chameleons to your garden is to make sure that the soil is covered in a thick mulch of compost, decaying autumn leaves and woodchips. This rich forest floor environment will attract an entire microcosm of insect life, and chameleons will arrive.

• Develop a compost heap in a quiet corner of the garden with the precise purpose of breeding insects. Baby chameleons will relish the tiny flies, grubs, beetles and gnats that thrive around a compost heap.
• Build an insect hotel. Very fashionable in Europe, insect hotels are artistic columns or cubes of plant material that are glued or wired together. The common theme is that each material must be considered a suitable home by respectable insects and spiders. A hotel could include a mishmash of pinecones, hollow bamboo stems, lotus pods or even old pieces of wood with holes of different sizes drilled into the stem.
• Plant flowering shrubs. Chameleons thrive in a garden that has a complete ecosystem of small, medium and large flowering shrubs which are constantly attracting insect activity. Smaller flowering shrubs covered in flowers are particularly loved by insects and are regarded as food table bridges between large twiggy shrubs. Many of the honeybee-friendly plants, such as euryops daisies, ribbon bushes, sage, fireball lilies, gazania and vygies will attract a variety of insects.
• Plant large shrub trees: Adult chameleons thrive in the higher perches found in large shrubs or small trees such as the dune crowberry, pompon trees, sweet thorn acacias and wild olive.
• Remove predators: Cats are one of the biggest threats to chameleons, birds and microfauna in the garden.
• Avoid using pesticides that kill flies, crickets, ants and micro-insect life that chameleons rely on for their food.
• Avoid illegal traders. If you see indigenous chameleons for sale, they are not legal. You are urged not to buy them.

What to plant

A chameleon-friendly garden is as much about the structure of the vegetation as it is about the plants. This notwithstanding, here is a list of chameleon-friendly plants:

• Low-growing groundcovers: Try the lilac carpet geranium (Geranium multisectum), gazanias, bulbine, dwarf agapanthus or kingfisher daisy.
• Shade-loving shrubs under trees: Try the spurflower (Plectranthus spp.), asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus), ribbon bush, arum and fireball lily.
• Low-growing shrubs with thin branches: Confetti bush, euryops daisy, tea bush or azaleas.
• Larger shrubs with thin branches: sage bush (Buddleja salviifolia), hop bush, mahonia, lion’s ear, polygala or dune crowberry (Searsia crenata).

Chamaeleo dilepis (Flap-neck chameleon) - The Flap-neck is the most common chameleon found in Gauteng (South Africa). The colouring here indicates that it is not feeling threatened but the change of spots is getting ready, just in case!

Image from Biodiversity

 Image credit - Here it is quite clear that he is very upset and not impressed at all!

It is very difficult to tell the different species apart. At first glance, they all look quite the same - all small, greenish-brown, with rolling eyes. But on closer inspection, it appears that there is a large amount of colour and scale variation, even within the same species. Luckily, with the help of genetic tests, it is now possible to make a better distinction between species, because each one has its own specific DNA code.
This makes further work on the morphological differences between species possible.

Any animal that can change colours and look in two directions at once is worth learning more about. Armed with a tongue you have to see to believe, the chameleon may be one of the coolest reptiles on the planet. I can only pray that in generations to come, chameleons can still be found roaming the trees of South Africa freely.

Together we can make a difference.

(Source for most of the information from the internet.)

BULLFROG at my pond - 1am 10 Nov 2015

Image from Milan Zygmunt 500px

The most wonderful sound to wake up to - the call of a Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus) at my pond! I haven’t heard one for years, so I immediately jumped out of bed (at 1am!), grabbed the torch and rushed to the pond. It took me quite a while to find him - first of all he heard me, so kept quiet for a while, but then continued - and secondly the torch light was rather dim. But eventually I found him. There he was! Cleverly hidden under a large rock in the shallows. I did have my camera with me, but the pics showed nothing in the darkness. So I looked for him the next morning and did find him (I in fact found two), but he was not nearby the size of the pics below - a youngster, about 10cm (4”) long and the minute he saw me, he left the safety of the rock he was hiding under and swam to deeper waters. So once again, no pic. It’s hard to believe that such a small chap can have such a booming voice!

The large rock (top right) under which he was hiding

Their loud booming calls (to attract a female) can be heard for miles and the first time you hear it (for me it was in the early 80’s at my previous wildlife pond), you’re not sure whether to investigate or to flee!

This species occurs widely in South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, extending north to southern Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya. One of the most adaptable amphibians on earth, Pyxicephalus can tolerate some of the harshest environments in Africa. Certain areas of their range can be completely dry for years at a time, and can reach surface temperatures over 100 degrees F, and drop to below freezing during the winter. Protected in an underground estivation chamber, the frogs wait it out until more suitable conditions occur. When the rainy season begins (usually November), they come out of their chamber, occupy temporary floodplains and rapidly drying puddles scattered around the African countryside, just for a few short days or a couple of weeks.

I am totally thrilled that they have taken up residence in my garden!
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Image from BioLib

It is the largest amphibian found in southern Africa. Males can reach a snout-vent length of 24,5 cm and a mass of 1.4 kg

It is common in many of the southern parts of its range, it has apparently declined in South Africa, especially in Gauteng Province, but it is still locally common in some places. Boycott (2001) declared the species to be extinct in Swaziland. It seems to be very uncommon in the northern parts of its range, with very few confirmed records from Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya (though this might in part be due to identification problems)..
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Photo Copyright by © Steven G. Johnson

Photo African bullfrog SA Reptiles
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It is a species of drier savannahs. It is fossorial for most of the year, remaining buried in cocoons. They emerge at the start of the rains, and breed in shallow, temporary waters in pools, pans and ditches. They are active by day during the breeding season. They can tolerate habitat alteration, but not urbanization.

Male Pyxicephalus adspersus can reach lengths of more than 9 inches and weigh over 2 pounds. Females are much smaller. Males are olive in colour, with yellow to orange on the throat region. Females are olive to light brown with cream to white throat areas. Both sexes have ridges running laterally on the dorsal surface. Juveniles are much more colourful than adults. Several white to yellow lines run down the animal's dorsal area on an overall mottled background. Both these dorsal lines, and mottling disappear with age. Adults have a spade like metatarsal tubercle on each hind foot to aid in digging. The front toes are thick and blunt with no webbing, the rear toes are slightly webbed. These frogs have massive skeletons with extremely large, heavy skulls. The bottom jaw has three odontodes which act as huge teeth, and are used in restraining struggling prey.

During the breeding season, males will congregate in large groups. Much aggression occurs in these groups with larger males pushing, pursuing, biting, even consuming smaller males. The large males will push their way to the centre of the group, establish and defend a small area and begin calling. The call lasts about a second and can be described as a deep low-pitched whoop. The females will hear this call and swim underwater to the centre of the group, to avoid the smaller males and surface in the defended area of a larger male. As they surface, they are persuaded until finally being seized by a male. Amplexus occurs in shallow water to allow the pair to stand on the bottom. Eggs are fertilized above the water's surface. As many as 4000 eggs may be released. The males exhibit parental care. Males will watch over and defend the eggs which hatch in two days. After hatching, the tadpoles will feed on each other, as well as on small fish and invertebrates. Defending males will continue to watch over the tadpoles which will metamorphose within three weeks.

Behavior
These frogs have a short active period depending on the rainy season. The majority of their lives are spent estivating underground. Adults will burrow underground using the metatarsal tubercle on their powerful hind legs. Juveniles lack this tubercle and must resort to utilising an existing burrow made by some other animal. They slough off several layers of their skin's epidermal cells which form a tough cocoon. Most of their bodily functions slow or shut down all together. This period of dormancy may last a year or more. During the rainy season frogs will sit partially buried with the nose exposed, taking advantage of any smaller animal unfortunate enough to pass by

Food Habits
Pyxicephalus adspersus is carnivorous and will consume nearly any animal that can be overpowered and can fit in their huge mouths. Cannibalism is a common occurrence beginning the moment they metamorphose. Many of their first meals will be a member of the same egg mass. Other prey items may include invertebrates, other species of frogs, reptiles, small mammals, and even small birds. The tongue is folded over inside the mouth. To capture a potential meal, it will drop its lower jaw with considerable force, causing the tongue to flip over and out of the animal's mouth, seizing the prey

Did you know?
Certain areas of their range can be completely dry for years at a time, and can reach surface temperatures over 38 degrees C, and drop to below freezing during the winter. Protected in an underground estivation chamber, the frogs wait it out until more suitable conditions occur. In fact, the majority of their lives are spent estivating underground. They slough off several layers of their skin's epidermal cells which form a tough cocoon, which prevents the evaporation of body fluids. Most of their bodily functions slow or shut down all together. They absorb water stored in their bladder. This period of dormancy may last a year or more. When the rainy season begins, they occupy temporary floodplains and rapidly drying puddles scattered around the African countryside.Males have two breeding strategies, depending on their age: Younger males congregate in a small area, perhaps only 1 or 2 square meters of shallow water. The larger males occupy the centre of these breeding arenas or leks and attempt to chase off other males. In fact they fight, causing injury and even killing one another. The dominant male attempt to prevent other males from participating in breeding. A female approaches the group of males by swimming along at the surface until she is within a few meters of the group. Then the female dives to avoid the smaller males and surfaces in the defended area of a larger male in the middle of the group. She is soon grasped by one of the larger males, and mating ensures. Most of the females are mated by the dominant male in his territory.

The major threat through most of its range is harvesting of frogs for local consumption, which is believed to be responsible for some population declines. In South Africa, breeding habitat has been lost due to urbanisation. This species is sometimes found in the international pet trade but at levels that do not currently constitute a major threat.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
African bullfrogs are eaten by humans, and have been collected for the commercial pet trade.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Because these frogs are such resilient animals, they might potentially have negative effects on the surrounding ecosystem if introduced by humans beyond their natural range.

Listed as Least Concern because, although it is losing breeding habitat in places due to urbanisation, and it is also eaten in parts of its range, it has a wide distribution, is tolerant of a broad range of habitats and has a presumed large population.
(Much of this info from Animal Diversity Web)

Giant Bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus). This fascinating frog species can be viewed by the general public at The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (NZG). NZG has decided that, in addition to having several amphibian species on display, it will also want to play a role in the conservation of frog species in situ (in the wild). A starting point for the NZG will be to install an on-line weather station on the site in order to correlate amphibian behaviour with environmental conditions.

NZG details :
Tel: +27 12 328 3265, Fax: +27 12 323 4540 | 232 Boom St, Box 754, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa.

At last somebody is doing something about our declining amphibian population! Thank you NZG!

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The end of an era

Torti, the Leopard Tortoise (also known as the Mountain Tortoise)

I took Torti to be released in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve today. She arrived in 2008, no bigger than my hand and probably 2 or 3 years old, Now she's almost 10 and will be reaching sexual maturity soon and I feel it is time for her to meet some of her own kind. I wish you well and hope you're happy in your new home Torti!

Some stats : length 48cm, width across her shell 48cm, height 28cm, weght approx. 15kg. 

Destined for the pot or possibly muti (a term for traditional medicine in Southern Africa), I confiscated her from the aggressor and brought her home. My intention was to release here into a safe environment, but these are becoming less and less due to the area becoming heavily built-up over the last decade.

Torti enjoying her breakfast, a mix of lettuce, celery, carrots, apple, baby marrows, brocolli and some Echeveria leaves

The Leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) or Mountain Tortoise face many dangers like illegal trade in wildlife, body parts being used in traditional medicines, veld fires, road kills and many more. So, right or wrong, she has stayed with me over the past seven years in the hope that some day I will find a perfect area in which to release her. In the meantime, she comes when I call her every morning for breakfast, taking her time and making me wait while she unhurriedly approaches and then digging in with gusto!

Torti relaxing in her enclosure

  

 Torti's enclosure

They are large tortoises (largest species in South Africa) that can weigh over 30kg and measure up to 60cm in length. Males have longer tails and a deep plastron (Bottom of shell) concavity as opposed to the females which have short tails and a flat plastron. Colouration is varied and the African Leopard Tortoise typically lives 80 to 100 years.

 Lydia feeding Torti

Torti basking in the sun

Read more here on how to CARE FOR YOUR LEOPARD TORTOISE

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