Friday, March 21, 2014

Magnificent chameleons of Tungi

I find chameleons as yucky and repulsive as the next person. But in the last couple of days I sighted quiet a few of these at Tungi while on a holiday, and even appreciated some of their unique survival kit that nature has built-in for them. Anyone recognise which specific variety this is?
Standing tall and surveying the morning activity. Notice the scales, the mane and the bellows that they can puff up to add to the menacing look, if they sense any danger. They can even change their colour for communicating with other chameleons or for camouflage
This one swung to the lower branches the moment he sensed movement around. Notice how they can change the palette of their skin tone to match the surroundings. With the sunlight and the clouds around, it would be easy to blend into the background
This is what I meant when I said they have the ability to blend into the background. We have the gap in the rock for contrast in  this image, with only rocks all around, easy to miss this one.

This one was in a tree, far from the ground and the branches above. Sensing me five feet away, resulted in this change of colour. It was followed by an inflation of the bellows below the chin, but I was not able to capture that image

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