Evening star., 1938-12-18

meleons with circuses and small
d dark pet shops smelling of parrots
and puppies. Then one year l went to
North Carolina and saw them emerge
from the leaves and moss in the spring
"a gorgeous emerald green one
minute and a nice rich brown the
next. They dashed around among the
bushes and trees blowing out their
throats into little reddish orange
bubbles under their chins.
Perhaps the day saw one climb
I'D rose bush and lick young tender
shoot free of aphids marks the birth
of my idea "If you do that so cheer
fully in the southern sunlight, my
friend" l thought, why won't you
do the same thing to the aphids in my
window garden at home?" So caught
one and took him North. But summer
was at hand, and hadn't the heart
to keep him inside. So l put him out
in our rose garden and saw the last
of him happily chasing spider of
huge dimensions!
But l never forgot the sight of that
chameleon eating aphids, and early
the following December acquired a
pair of them. As they emerged happily
from the two-by-four box in which
they arrived. both took deep breath.
looked all about. and started one
after the other up the crown of thorns.
Then they swung over and up the ivy.
licking drops of water off the leaves
all the way. Finally they settled on a
Phyllocactus branch. turned green
and promptly went to sleep. But the
big moment of my life came shortly
after their arrival when saw one
enthusiastically eating mealy bugs
off the gardenia.
Not once from December until May
did | spray the plants among which
they lived Previous years had spent
many a dark hour Cussing at mealy
bugs, aphids. red spiders and scale -
and mixing UP various sprays in the
kitchen. And now it turns out that
all these insects that are such a
headache to humans are delicious
feast to chameleons.
So before the mealy bugs get busy,
or the red spiders encase everything
in dull gray webbing, buy a pair of
chameleons, turn them loose in the
window garden and relax.
Don't fear that this little four
legged, long-tailed creature may
wander far afield and end up in the
bottom of your bed, where he will in
quisitively greet your toes as you
stretch luxuriously out to sleep some
night! The chances are ninety-nlne to
one he will never leave the window
garden - ours never did. They are
very partial to light and love plants.
If you placed them in any other part
of the room they would quickly gravi-
tate towards the windows - always
choosing the ones with growing things.
Their favorite method of drinking
water is by licking the morning dew
off leaves. Freshly sprayed plants
prove just as quenching-
Besides spraying the plants every
morning it takes but little else to keep
chameleons healthy and happy. Let
them live in warm room that does
not get very cold at night - and feed
them plenty. They need more food
than most people realize. If their skin
has too many folds and dark spots
and blotches on it, or their ribs become
too prominent, they are not getting
enough to eat.
One chameleon needs meal worm
every other day - or every day if he
will eat it. Drop the worm in the gar
den where he can see it and he will
rush madly down stem - grab it.
and cheerfully swallow it alive. BE
sure all worms get eaten.o After the
,hameleons get used to you they will
eat the worms out of your hand, and
will come down from the top of the