While a race can often mean a fight for survival against a dangerous predator, there are other high octane and high stakes races that take place in the wild, like between this… tortoise, and this… chameleon.
They might not be the kind of animals one might expect to put the pedal to the metal and crank up the speed, but they both needed to get from one side of the road to the other, and they needed to do it fast.
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Jaun Slabbert spotted the two, caught the whole event on camera, and sent the footage in to Latest Sightings. It’s time to place your bets, and see what these animals are capable of.
On Your Marks
At the beginning of the footage the chameleon and the tortoise had arrayed themselves on the side of the road, and they both looked like they were ready and raring to go.
Crossing the road can be dangerous for some animals, especially small ones like these. Aside from the obvious danger like vehicles, roads are wide open spaces without anywhere to hide that other animals use as well.
It’s not uncommon to see a pack of wild dogs loping along down the side of a road, or a leopard slinking through the underbrush on either side. The flat terrain means that anything can get from one place to another efficiently.
Get Set
Crossing the road might have been essential for both of these animals to get to something like a water source, which would make the risks worth it. Once they’d started to cross, they won’t have any guarantee of safety until they reached the other side.
A keen-eyed bird might swoop down if it spotted the chameleon with nowhere to hide, and a passing leopard might fancy taking the tortoise in passing, to enjoy as a snack.
But, if they were both in the same place at the same time, and they both needed to cross, then they might as well see which of them could make the crossing faster, and the race was on.
Go!
The tortoise wasted no time getting off the mark, which was probably a wise decision because it needed to build up as much of a lead as it could before the chameleon got going as well.
While the tortoise was already moving, even if it wasn’t moving at any great pace, the chameleon was revving itself in place on its long legs, trying to prepare itself before it joined the race.
Both animals might have been running as fast as they could to get across the road safely, but it wasn’t quite a burnt-rubber start, as both the chameleon and the tortoise had a top speed of very slow.
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A Clear Winner
Once upon a time, the tortoise beat the hare. Now, on the sunbaked road, it was about to beat the chameleon as well. It wasn’t even a particularly quick race, as the tortoise built up an early lead, and then just kept going.
The chameleon focused more on rocking back and forth with every step which ended up slowing it down so much that the tortoise was able to get off screen into the distance.
All the competitors gave it a good go, but ultimately the victory had to go to the tortoise, and we can only hope that the chameleon was going to have better luck next time.