Jewel # 298 (Oct. 12, 2017)

Tamandua Anteater

Spiny Anteater

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I

make up MY JEWELS.”

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren

Unusual Anteaters

“Be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.”

(Isaiah 65:18)

A very unusual anteater lives in the country of Costa Rica in Central America.  It has the name TAMANDUA or COLLATERAL ANTEATER, and it feeds on tree termites.  It wraps its long tail around the branches so it will not fall out of the tree.  

It is prettier than most anteaters, with shaggy white or tan legs and tail and tan fur on its neck and throat, with the rest of the body covered with black fur. Actually it looks like it is dressed in a black sleeveless sweater.  The only thing unpleasant about this anteater is that it gives off a bad odour when excited. 

One of the most unusual anteaters is known as the SPINY ANTEATER and lives in the Australian deserts and New Guinea.  It has a long, slender beak and a pouch for carrying its young, like a kangaroo.  On occasion it adds to its unusual character by swallowing dirt.  It is really a very strange creature in most every way.

It doesn’t give birth to little ones as most animals do, but, like a bird, hatches them from eggs!  The single egg is carried in the female’s warm pouch outside her body until it hatches.  After the little one hatches, she nurses it with rich milk.  Then, within about ten weeks, the little one develops a shiny, silky fur that covers its entire body.  It has partially webbed feet with four strong curved  toes.  It will soon use these for digging in the ground or tearing apart decaying trunks of trees or other splintered wood to fill its stomach with ants and termites.  Of course, by that time it is on its own and no longer fed by the mother’s milk.

A full-grown spiny anteater’s body is only about a foot long, covered with hollow spines over a coat of black fur.  The broad front feet are equipped with short nails for digging, and each hind foot has an extra-long nail it uses to comb out its hair.  Its face which is actually a long, round snout, is smooth and equipped with a pair of dark nostrils and ends in a tiny mouth.  Its tongue is long and sticky, enabling it to lick out ants and termites from their hidden areas.

These unusually interesting examples of animal life, together with a great variety of related ones in various parts of the world, perform a wonderful service.  They destroy termites and ants that are very destructive of valuable timber and wooden constructions.

The more we consider the wonders of God’s creation, the more we should be glad and rejoice, just as the opening Bible verse says.  We may be sure He is glad when we do.  We can trust the Word of God, the Bible, to tell us the truth about creation: “By Him were all things created” (Colossians 1:16).

Love you all - Grandpa