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Friday, June 3, 2011

Who's afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf? Everybody (almost)! Who's afraid of the Small, Good Aardwolf? Nobody! Except the termites. I show you WWF maximum cards / maxicards / dorincards from Eritrea, with The Aardwolf of northeastern Africa (Proteles cristatus septentrionalis)

This is another strange animal species, which has been named after 3 different animals: hyena, wolf ("earth wolf" = aardwolf) and jackal ("maanhaar jackal").
But it's a member of the Hyaenidae family. The "black sheep" of that family. (Here's another animal name...)

"The aardwolf (Proteles cristata) is a small, insectivorous hyena, native to Easternand Southern Africa. The name means "earth wolf" in Afrikaans/Dutch.[2] It is also called "maanhaar jackal".[3] Unlike other hyenas, the diet of the aardwolf almost completely consists of termites, other insect larvae and carrion.[4]

The aardwolf is the only surviving species of the subfamily Protelinae
Two subspecies are recognized: Proteles cristatus cristatus of Southern Africa, and Proteles cristatus septentrionalis of eastern and northeastern Africa.[5][6] 
It is usually placed in the Hyaenidae, though formerly separated into the family Protelidae
The aardwolf lives in the scrublands of eastern and southern Africa. 
These are the areas of land covered with stunted trees or shrubs
The aardwolf hides in a burrow during the day and comes out at night to search for food. 
It is related to hyenas, but unlike its relatives, it does not hunt large prey."

You think ALL animals are God's creatures? "Like" [= a cliché of young people], he created all of them on purpose, no matter how dubious or nefarious is that purpose to us?
Look what the aardwolf does to the termites, beloved creatures of God.
The aardwolf "is a mass killer of insects. 
It feeds mainly on termites and can eat more than 200,000 in a single night, using its long, sticky tongue to collect them."


What do YOU know about Eritrea?
Me, neither - welcome to the club.
Now let's have a look.
They speak these languages: 

State of Eritrea
ሃገረ ኤርትራ
Hagere Ertra
دولة إرتريا
Dawlat Iritrīya
FlagEmblem





"Eritrea (play /ˌɛrɨˈtr.ə/ or /ˌɛrɨˈtrə/;[6] Ge'ezኤርትራ ʾErtrāArabic: إرتريا Iritrīyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa
The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeast and east of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen
The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands are part of Eritrea. 
Eritrea's size is approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi) with an estimated population of 5 million."


As seen from AFAR (and ISSA)
"The Afar Depression (also called the Danakil Depression or the Afar Triangle) is a geological depression, includes Afar Triple Junction, near the Horn of Africa, also a part of the Great Rift Valley, where it overlaps Eritrea, the Afar Region of Ethiopia, and Djibouti
Afar is well known as one of the cradles of hominids, containing the Middle Awash, site of many fossil hominid discoveries such as Ardi, (ardipithecus ramidus); Gona (Gawis cranium), site of the world's oldest stone tools; and Hadar, site of Lucy [MY NOTE: no, not Lucy from I love Lucy!], the fossilized specimen of Australopithecus afarensis."
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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).



8 comments:

  1. I wonder just how many termites are consumed on a daily basis by this 'beast'! Great card as usual, Dorin.

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  2. I could have used this fellow to take care of the termite problem I had on Galveston Island! I bet there's still plenty of *work* for him there. Think he'd care to relocate?!!!!

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  3. What an interesting mix of animals. Such a long neck.

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  4. Yikes... when I have termites I will remember this creature! Great post! Thanks for sharing and Happy PFF!

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  5. Cool! I wonder how many termites he can eat in a day. Does he get full? Thanks for sharing. Nice card.

    I love sending and receiving postcards. Mine is up - My PFF Entry. Thanks for sharing and Happy PFF!

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  6. These maxicards are always interesting but I'm not sure exactly what a maxicard is or how it differs from other cards. Help!

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  7. I could use one of those guys here in Florida! Just paid a pocket full of $$ for termite protection. It's nice to meet a wolf who wolfs down insects - not people. Puts a whole new twist on the Red Ridinghood story. My, what a big tongue you havve! All the better to eat you...er I mean bugs.

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  8. I hadn't heard of this animal before. thanks for all the information.

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