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While game viewing, I often see things that raise questions in my mind that I wonder about and would like answers to.

I would like to turn the tables 'back to front' here where anyone can ask a question and we can all put our heads together to find the answer.

Let us keep this quiz fun, light-hearted, informative and enjoyable for everyone. This is an "OQ" quiz

Great!

Let me ask the first question to kick off this quiz;

On three occasions now, I have seen chameleons crossing the road. They all do this incredibly slowly and I always park the car in such a way that protects them from being ridden over by oncoming traffic. However as soon as they hit the grass verge they run off at a much faster pace.
Why do they do this? Why don't they just run across the road?

great idea for a quiz. thanks Siobain!!!


the chameleon.....??? Good question.

this is just a guess, will go dig for an answer. maybe they walk slowly across the road, as they are not sure where they are and need to keep watch on their surroundings, a bit more so as when they are "at home" and know the surroundings. ???????????????????

Siobain

Good question - maybe they feel extremely vulnerable in wide open spaces and I have noticed it too. They seem to move with a back and forth rocking motion. Maybe they "think" that they might be mistaken for something else, like a twig or a leaf

Must admit it doesn't really make sense one would think it was far safer for them to get to the other side as quickly as possible and get under cover I am sure there must be a logical explanation out there somewhere.

Thanks guys!

It also brings to mind what temperature they can withstand as the road can at times be hot enough to fry eggs and bacon on it!

What we have seen is that when stopping so they could cross the road, they would freeze when the car's shadow fall on them, once we moved the car and the chameleon is in full sunlight it would start rocking forward.............

What I have read about the Hawaiian Chameleon is that they normally move on the roads during rainy times and they think that could be what confuses them.........but we've seen Chameleons in Kruger on sunny days crossing the roads.

Mmmmmmm. This is a head-scratcher for me as I have often wondered at the chameleons' odd behaviour when crossing roads - even a snail outruns them! I mean, why would they endanger themselves by moving slower than a sloth when in full view of predators and unprotected by vegetation, but then suddenly sprint off when they are hidden??

Great quiz, Siobain! Definitely something to ponder about and learn a lot from ...

something i have seen with the chameleons at home, at the odd time i picked one up , is that the moment i put it back in its tree, he is running away. does it maybe attempt to "play dead" and when in a place he feels more secure he can run for cover to his home where he feels safe and secure?????

That is starting to make sense in my mind, WFG. Perhaps chameleons think that slow moving in the open will largely go unnoticed by predators?

Great thoughts coming through here.

Is there anyone else out there who wants to add anything?

Thanks everyone for your participation here, and thanks OWN for your encouragement.

Not sure we will ever have a clear answer here, but good ideas have been put forward.

Maybe they walk slowly across the road, as they are not sure where they are and need to keep watch on their surroundings, a bit more so as when they are "at home" and know the surroundings. Thanks WFG. This sounds credible as they are completely out of their comfort zone.

Also LQ freezing motion when the car's shadow fall on them. I think anytime they feel they are being watched they do freeze and RoseH, Maybe they "think" that they might be mistaken for something else, like a twig or a leaf, I think they do feel they are less visible with the rocking motion and may be perceived as something else.

Some other factors I have read up on are their physical limitations. Chameleons feet are like clamps. They don't have multiple toes they have 2 clamp like toes that work almost on a hinge and they use these to grab on to tree branches, vines and other things in their habitat.

Moving on the road, they have nothing to hold onto, and as OWN and I saw, the second our chameleon reached the grass verge, it ran off at a much faster pace. I now realise it had grass and twigs to help it move forward, this could also be a main contributing factor.



This is our little guy, I guess he was immitating a bright green leaf.

Ok, does anyone else have a question?

Excellent, thoughtful question, Siobain, that has raised some possibilities. That is what this quiz is all about. I suddenly feel like we have a better understanding of a chameleon crossing a road!

Wow, that was a lot of interesting facts we got together about chameleons.


Q: How would one know which wild fruits are edible or not without necesarily knowing their scientific names - which sometimes have a clue in that they are edible or poisonous.

OWN, thanks for the positive encouragement.

Thanks WFG.

This is a great question!

I'm not too clued up on the different fruits. However, I do know, that one of the deadliest is the Candelabra Euphorbia, its latex is extremely poisonous. Most of the Euphorbia's do produce some kind of fruit that would not be edible. I think most plants that exude a milky substance are poisonous.

It will be interesting to learn more about this, there have to be a lot of knowledgeable mites who can help us with this.