Karma Chameleons

Midway through a lifetime spent with wild animals, I’ve come to the conclusion that all animals are amazing – there are no boring animals.  There are some, however, which go beyond amazing, bordering on the unearthly.  Look at an elephant, for instance – that massive size, the tusks, the ears, the trunk, the social and behavioral complexity – any one of those things would make it a very special, unique animal, but to have them all wrapped up in one package?  It’s incredible.

That’s how I feel about chameleons, as well.

Nothing about a chameleon is “normal,” from the prehensile tail to the projectile tongue to the weird, pincer-like mittens that it has for feet, to say nothing of the frills and horns that adorn many species.  The eyes, each mounted independently and swiveling back and forth, like the turrets on a tank, are especially bizarre.   Even at a cursory glance, you’d never mistake a chameleon for a skink, a gecko, or any other kind of lizard.

Of course, none of those traits are what make chameleons famous.  Instead, they are renown for their ability to change color – the ultimate masters of disguise.

Except that’s not really how it works.

It’s true, chameleons are masterfully camouflaged.  Their flattened bodies resemble leaves, and the slow, jerky way that they walk along branches is reminiscent of a leaf fluttering in the breeze.  If the purpose of changing color was to stay camouflaged, however, chameleons would be green virtually all the time.  The base color of most chameleons is actually what their primary camouflage would be – green, with some patterning to break up their appearance.   Instead, chameleons change color for a variety of reasons, mostly related to their mood (useful for frightening off a rival) and temperature (as it can affect how much sunlight the lizard absorbs or reflects).  It can also denote reproductive status – a female chameleon that is gravid with eggs can use her coloration to let an interested male know that she is not, in fact, interested back.

The mechanism by which a chameleon changes its color is remarkable.  It is due to a series of special cells in the skin, which change shape and thereby change how light reflects off of them.

Like many animal attributes, the ability of a chameleon to change its color is somewhat exaggerated.  You can’t put a chameleon on a checkerboard and watch it turn into a patchwork of black and red squares.  I’ve actually met plenty of visitors who have felt somewhat let down at how “limited” their ability to camouflage is.  I’ve found that ridiculous.  Lots of animals can change color, to one degree or another, but few terrestrial animals can match the chameleons in terms of the beauty of their displays.

Of course, as cool as I find chameleons, I’d rather people think that they are boring rather than decide that they needed to have one as a pet.  Compared to many of the agamas and geckos, chameleons are rather delicate under human care, and they are not especially forgiving of bad care.   Ventilation and humidity are very important variables to maintain correctly.  They also stress easily, a reason that most zoos will adamantly keep males segregated from one another (even if that would result in some cool color displays).  They are also fairly intolerant of handling – fine for a zoo animal, less so for a pet that people are interested in “playing with.”

I’d put chameleons in the same category as I would most pieces of non-living artwork.  Beautiful to look at.  Better not to touch.