Frogs and Ravens: Animeme

Well, I was contemplating writing another piece responding to Janisse Ray's essay (theme: the joys of being "in the choir") but then Chris Clarke tagged me with a meme (eyeroll) so I guess I'll do that instead (fetching groan).

(It's a pretty good one. jo(e), pica, you're up! And anyone else who'd like to do it!)

An interesting animal I had

Adult alligator lizards are impressive, slightly scary animals. They are smooth, unlike fence lizards, and they have no necks. As a kid I was warned by my father that they have strong jaws, sharp teeth, and are aggressive. Yet somehow I managed to catch a baby one, no longer than my little finger, tail included. It lived in a jar and I fed it live flies. I even arranged for one of my brother's friends to catch flies for it when we went on vacation, which he did.

And then I killed it. I thought that it might like some sun after spending the vacation indoors. Hot day. Large glass jar. You can guess the ending.

I still feel guilty.

An interesting animal I ate

A toss-up: kangaroo or crocodile? I ate both during the same barbecue on the same trip to Australia. The kangaroo was marinated in a teriyaki sauce, the crocodile in a lemon sauce. The kangaroo tasted like tender beef, the crocodile like fishy pork. Since I saw both crocodiles and kangaroos on our trip, it seemed appropriate to be eating them - especially since the crocodiles would have been happy to eat me.

An interesting animal in the Museum

The last time I went to a museum I looked at fossils. I can't decide between the prehistoric squirrel and the fossil manatee. The squirrel's skeleton was posed seated, with the paws clutching a nut; the manatee's misshapen bones hung eeriely overhead in a dim room painted to look like the sea.

An interesting thing I did with or to an animal

My parents' house is surrounded by forest, and they have numerous avian visitors. Among these are chestnut-breasted nuthatches, small badger-like birds who zip through the air like bullets. During one visit, I discovered that if I stood very still, arm outstretched, with sunflower seeds on my palm, the nuthatches would eat from my hand. One would land, perceptibly weightless, little claws scratching, select a seed, and fly off to the nearby oak to eat it.

An interesting animal in its natural habitat

I'm going to stretch the "natural" part of the habitat* so that I can mention the snapping turtle I saw this spring. The place we'd been living was disturbingly bereft of non-avian animal life; I grew up used to seeing lizards on the walk, snakes in the weeds, and turtles by the road, and none of these were where we were. So I was excited to see a huge snapping turtle lumbering across the road when we came out here to scout for a place to live. The location was a side road connecting the main highway (still small) with a scenic church, and this large lump, over a foot across, was making its way to the other side. I would have stopped, but there was no shoulder, and snapping turtles are nothing to mess with, in any case.

Your turn! Share your animal encounters and experiences in the comments, please.

*I find the concept of "nature" irritating, simplistic and unnecessarily divisive, inaccurate, and one that is, well, artificial. But that's a rant for another day.