Its Breeding Time
As Autumn approaches our chameleons will be giving birth now ahead of the rains, which usually is around Easter.
Look out for baby chameleons. They tend to be brownish. At birth they can fit on the tip of your forefinger, but soon grow much bigger.
They are the cutest thing ever and great for showing kids (when they are allowed to visit! - but they will still be there after the lockdown).
If you are having difficulty finding them during the day, then do a survey at night with a bright torch. They tend to be near the tips of branches at night and are a pale milky colour in the torch light - quite easy to count.
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If you are interested in how many chameleons are in your garden, then why not join our Chameleon survey: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/chameleons-of-cape-town-atlas
Take a photograph of one of your chameleons (use the iNaturalist app) and add this project to the observation. If you cannot find any chameleons, then add the project to another observation (of another animal or plant) and record the number as "0 - looked hard".
Chameleons are great fun: if you can catch some flies - they have to be alive - you can hold them near a chameleon (about a body length away) and watch them shoot their tongues to catch the fly.
Beware: keep a lookout for the Fiscal Shrike (Jannie): dont go near your chameleons (or any other garden "pets" or nests) when he is around as he will be watching you to see if he can get a quick meal! Make sure that the coast is clear before you visit any of your "friends".
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http://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Spot%20Cape%20Town's%20chameleons
"Spot Cape Town’s chameleons
08 April 2020
The City of Cape Town is encouraging residents to keep a special eye out for the Cape Dwarf Chameleon, which is classified as a vulnerable species. This will assist the City in tracing where these chameleons occur. To participate, residents need to download the iNaturalist app.
With the onset of autumn, the Cape Dwarf Chameleon, also known as Trapsuutjies in Afrikaans, should be delivering offspring ahead of the rains, which usually occur around this time of year. Residents should therefore look out for baby chameleons, which tend to be brown in colour and at birth, can fit on the tip of one’s forefinger, but soon grow much bigger. Cape Dwarf Chameleons give live birth to between five to 15 babies at a time. Newborns then drop and stick to vegetation, after which they are immediately self-sufficient. ..."
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