Chameleons

As pets, ornaments and toys, chameleons are more popular in the U. S. than any other reptile. Like hot dogs or lollipops, they are peddled in great numbers by circuses, fairs and carnivals, mostly to people who have no idea how to feed and water them. This wholesale trade was last week giving some concern to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, because it has been found that chameleons help Florida celery growers by eating destructive caterpillars and moths, and the Department now believes that they help suppress insect pests on other truck crops in Southeastern and Gulf States. No law banning their sale was yet in sight, but in answer to hundreds of inquiries from chameleon purchasers the Department sent out bulletins on "The American Chameleon and Its Care."

Contrary to popular belief, the American chameleon (Anolis carolinensis) does not assume the color of its surroundings. Its color changes, partly reflex and partly voluntary, are stimulated by temperature, illumination, emotion. In summer the chameleon can be given the run of a screened porch, but in winter it needs a cage with plenty of sunlight shining through glass netting or fine screen. Chameleons can drink only by lapping up drops of water sprinkled on plants; hence many die of thirst even with a pan of water in their cages.

The chameleon has a long, sticky, club-shaped tongue with which it is adept at spearing flies and other insects. Since this art requires a nice appreciation of distance, the chameleon, unlike other reptiles, has developed bifocal vision. Recommended diet: flies (except bluebottle flies), mealworms, cockroaches.

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