LuAnne Cadd Photography

LuAnne Cadd is a photojournalist based in the USA.

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Chameleons – the small joys of life

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A Jackson's Chameleon, found in the garden in Nairobi.
Jackson's Chameleon. Love the eye and hand.

I love chameleons.  Everything about them fascinates me: the changing color of their skin; their scales; those eyes that rotate around in their sockets, independently of each other, like a spotlight searching for something; the curling tail; the little “hands.”  And I think my favorite is the way they move…slowly, as if they can sneak away if they move in slow motion.

Here in Nairobi they have Jackson’s Chameleons, the ones with three horns. Such a wonder.  The gardener at Josh & Audra’s apartment found one for us.

(I also like hedgehogs.)

Me, with my favorite weird creature, the Chameleon.
Jackson's Chameleon
Hedgy, the Hedgehog, another "found" pet. We woke him up from his daytime sleep (he's nocturnal) for pictures, and the poor thing was so tired, he walked for a bit, then just rolled over on his side and fell asleep. Then we put out his favorite treat to wake him up, and he ate it lying down, as you can see.
Hedgy's feet, something you don't see up close very often as they prefer to curl into a tight ball when you touch them.

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Comments

  1. Love your description of the little “bug eyed” creature. Have you connected with Mary Lovein in Hawaii? She is an expert on jackson’s.

  2. I live on the Big Island of Hawaii and have written a book about the Jackson’s chameleons, titled: Chameleons in the Garden. They were introduced in 1972 and are an established species which I am fascinated with everything about them. About a month ago I made a fan page on facebook that is dedicated to the Jackson’s chameleons of my book. On Tuesday, I posted that I would like to find some pictures from their place of origin, Mt. Kenya. I see that you are in Nairobi and it looks to be a Jackson’s that you are holding in the image AND you posted it on Tuesday! I am so happy to find it and to connect with you. I would like to invite you to my page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Chameleons-in-the-Garden/109524162411229
    I look forward to more correspondence with you!
    Best wishes and aloha,
    Mary Lovein

  4. The pet store I go to had a chameleon on display for the longest time, and I really enjoy looking at them as well. I was very tempted to buy one, but it was expensive, we already have too many pets, and I hear they are hard to take care of. We do pretty well with our leopard gecko and our basilisk. We also have 3 horses, 2 dogs, 2 birds, 2 rats, and various fresh water fish. Our class pet turtle died two weeks ago. – So sad. The hedgehog is cute as well. Was it wild?

  5. Now I noticed what you wrote under the hedgehog – that it was a “found” pet. They must be quite tame even when they’re “wild.”