Aardvark awareness

Thanks to the Dutch propensity for double vowels, the first page of most dictionaries and encyclopedias includes a description of an odd little African mammal called an aardvark.

The real thing is utterly unlike the charming hero of the "Arthur" books for children. It lives its life in darkness, being absolutely nocturnal. It eats termites and little else.

Africans eat the poor thing, whose only defense are its sharp claws. It rolls onto its back and slashes at its attacker -- or digs its way to safety at amazing speed.

They also string its little peg teeth into bracelets to ward off evil. The logic of that escapes me. (Then again, people in my culture think that the severed foot of a rabbit brings them good luck.)

Millions of years ago, aardvarks ranged across Europe and Asia, apparently at a time when huge termite mounds could still be found there. Now it lives only in the dry lands from Ethiopia to South Africa, and there is only one species of it in its family.

Our world abounds in fascinating creatures -- from the stick insects of Malaysia to the lemurs of Madagascar to the grizzly bears of Alaska. I never get tired of learning about them.