Day 5043: A 10 year old Step by Step & Elephant Shrew

"Young turmoil": junk collage, photo, digital.

                                                                       

  

Want music?

    Click: African Marimba Band, Click Song.

2GN2S

 How about a recipe for a postcard? (from 2016)

step 1.

1. Take 4x6" watercolor paper, draw with ink brush

step 2.

2. Use watercolor to fill in skin tone.

step 3.

3. Use wide, chisel tip marker to fill in the background.

step 4 .

4. Add white marker on eyes & watercolor everywhere else

step 5.

5. Add junk mail, collage where needed.

6.  Let rest. (Recipes say that a lot.)

Elephant Shrew

 

At first glance, it looks like a tiny mouse with an oversized nose.

But appearances can be deceiving.

Meet the Elephant Shrew, one of Africa's most fascinating and misunderstood mammals. With its long, flexible snout and lightning-fast movements, this small creature seems like something nature designed for a fantasy story.

Yet its most surprising secret is hidden in its family tree.

Despite its name, the Elephant Shrew is not a true shrew at all. In fact, scientists have discovered that it shares a more distant evolutionary connection with elephants than with rodents.

That means this tiny insect hunter has unexpected ties to the largest land animal on Earth.

Its remarkable nose is more than just a curious feature.

The flexible snout acts like a precision tool, constantly probing the ground for insects, spiders, worms, and other tiny prey hidden beneath leaves and vegetation. Every twitch helps it locate food in the dense forests and savannas it calls home.

Speed is another one of its superpowers.

Elephant shrews can sprint at impressive speeds, using networks of cleared pathways to escape predators in seconds. Their quick reflexes and agility make them some of the most efficient little survivors in Africa.

What makes them truly special is the combination of intelligence, speed, and unique evolution packed into such a small body.

They may be tiny, but they are living proof that some of nature's greatest surprises come in the smallest packages.

The Elephant Shrew reminds us that the animal kingdom is filled with unexpected connections and extraordinary adaptations waiting to be discovered.

If you could see one unusual animal in the wild, would you choose the Elephant Shrew or another hidden wildlife wonder?

 

  

 

A 2+ minute video, artist, Stephen Wilshire, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Spotted Barbets

Monday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.