It happened again: this time, a flapneck

Deb

New Member
So, another Chameleon found in the garden in Swaziland.

This time, it is a flapneck (Chamaeleo dilepis according to the local wildlife guidebook. However I saw one expert online- may have been Chris Anderson on this forum- disputing whether this is really dilepis).

I think it is a female, and I think she is gravid.

The Bradypodion transvaalense last week was found in a suburban garden in Mbabane. This one was found in my vegetable garden. I live in a valley beyond the urban boundary, about 20 minutes away from town. A river borders this large property on the lower slope, and there are many trees and a wide variety of flora and wild fauna (+++species of birds; snakes, small rodents, mongooses, variety of lizards including monitors). So there is a lot of wildlife, and, according to one conservationist, this valley is one of the spots in the country where Chameleons are often seen.

This flapneck was found by the head groundsman, Patrick. Now this is rather serendipidious. Just yesterday afternoon, so not even 24 hours ago, I asked Patrick if he had ever seen a Chameleon here. He has been working on the property for 7 years, and no, he said in all that time he had never seen one. But he agreed with me that there must be plenty around.

I asked Patrick to please call me if he or any of the groundsmen and women see a Chameleon. He shuddered and pulled a face. He said he was terrified of them. Chameleons and toads... he says, he calls Vusi to come remove the toads. (He is a 6ft, sturdy guy). He shuddered again. Snakes- Mozambican Spitting Cobras, Boomslangs, Mambas, Rinkhals, Puff Adders- all deadly- are no problem. But toads... no, those require back-up he says.

There is a staunch cultural bias against the poor Chameleon around here. I haven't been able to get a straight answer why this is. The most I can gather is that Chameleons are associated with evil spirits. Patrick agreed to call me if he saw one; I have also begged him to not kill them.

So earlier I was pottering around the vege garden (had the day off from work), when Patrick arrived with his petrol-operated, montrously loud, weed-eater. He proceeded to trim the edges of the beds and mow down where the vegetation had grown too thick.

The flapneck was on the ground in one of the vegetable beds that had become grassed over in the last month or two. I think she was investigating a place to lay her eggs. The nearest trees are all several meters away.

Patrick shouted "There's a Chameleon!" and I came rushing over. I picked her up and went down to the house. I placed two small coffee trees and a couple of other smalled indoor plants on top of a table. She is now sitting in a coffee tree, above my head height.

When the afternoon cools down and the mowing stops for the day, I am going to return her to where I found her. I'm not sure which tree she likes to hang out in generally. The closest tree to where I found her are banana trees (which don't seem appropriate..??); also, there is a guava tree. I'm not sure if maybe I should find a more appropriate spot for her, nearby of course (within 50-100m of where I found her). There are a lot of kingfishers cruising the vege garden, and the trees around there are not so thick. Does anyone know the 'range' of these Chameleons?

I snapped a few pics for you to see. I would like to know,
1) Is this a female?
2) Does she look gravid to you?
3) What is the range of these Chameleons?
4) Should I return her to a nearby tree or place her exactly where I found her?

She showed me yellows and greens and a bit of white in her markings. Beautiful lime green too.


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Deb you need to start taking more pictures of walks through your gardens and post Pictures in the Other Reptiles section. Or more chameleons pictured in the Wild that would be great. We would all enjoy them if you ever get the time. Thanks for sharing.

Id place in a tree near location.
 
Interesting!
Im not sure were would be best to return it.
I would put it back exactly where it was found.
I think its hilarious that someone would be afraid of them.
I have also read somewhere that they are seen as evil, and demons.
THanks for sharing.;)
 
So I put her back in the vegetable garden, in the guava tree which is about 10 meters from where she was found. I didn't want to put her on the now denuded ground because she would have been too exposed now that all that vegetation has been removed; also, there was a kingfisher hanging about who I'm sure would love a Chameleon for dinner.

Thanks for the comments... but no comments on whether you think she is gravid?

She flashed her unhappy/angry colours briefly before I put her in the guava tree. Orange and brown and black spots. But these disappeared just as fast as they came on. All in all a pretty cool Chameleon. I only handled her when I picked her up and when I returned her to the tree, so I think that helped.

JackP308 I will post a couple of pics I have recently snapped in other sub-forums. Unfortunately I have only seen the monitor once, and I didn't get a pic of it. I have only been in this house for a few months, so hopefully I will see it again soon. People who have lived around here for a long time say they see them regularly. My occasional housekeeper mentioned that she often sees one when she is walking home, hanging out on a specific rock across on the other side of the river. I think I will have to go with her one day soon and try snap a pic. Most of the things I photograph are macros of small bugs, and birds, because they are easy subjects. The lounge window looks out onto a small wetland area, so lots of water-loving birds are around.
 
yea but i herd on the discovery channel recently somewhere dunno where but it was said god gave chams the eternal secret of life to keep but some how it was spotted or something and thats why people die? idk i was possibly tipsy when i seeen it lol cant remember exactly
 
but great story and id keep her till she had the eggs these ppl hate chams and fear them like that theyd have a beter chance of survival with you.
 
Another Bradypodion found yesterday. This one was an adult male. Amazing colours! I will post pics when the price of bandwidth drops, which is next week hopefully.
 
OMG! Im moving into your backyard! seriously, I want to find chams in my back yard!!!!!!!!!!!! im so jealous!
 
Thanks so much for sharing. My dream is to take a trip to Africa after I graduate from Art school. I dream about areas like the one that you are lucky to call home. Take care and keep the photos coming.
 
Another Bradypodion today. This one is the youngest I have seen, even younger than that first one, and quite noticeably different in appearence. Will post pics of all these finds soon.

I don't really have a "yard". It's more like a "property", of which my rented house is one of a few on the grounds. Across the river from my house is Swazi Nation Land. Ideas of land ownership here are a bit different to most westernised parts of the world. Nation Land is held in common, and every citizen had a right to be granted a piece of land to build their house and or farm on. The land across the river rises steeply to a ridge of a few hundred meters height. Being both Nation Land and very steep means that there are not many houses on that side of the ridge, and no tarred roads either. So lots of wildlife, I am very blessed!

You can't come to my backyard (unless you live next to a ski resort, and you wanna do some kind of an accomodation swop :D ). But there are many good and affordable wildlife spots in the country if you interested. Most of these Chameleons I'm finding are coming from a suburb which is a kilometer or two from the centre of town, 'town' being the second-largest city in the country.
 
This is the second Bradypodion tranvaalense I found in the garden. He was the most colourful of the 4 BTs I've seen this season. I refer to him as "Jack", and I haven't seen him since.

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