28/10/2026
Captivatingly cute or creature of fright?!
In Halloween week, weāre shining our Wildlife Wednesday light on the aye aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)!
Famously described by Gerald Durrell as an āoutsized witchās catā, he captured its eerie allure in his book The Aye-Aye and I:
"In the gloom it came along the branches towards me, its round, hypnotic eyes blazing, its spoon-like ears turning to and fro independently like radar dishes... it was Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky come to life... one of the most incredible creatures I had ever been privileged to meet."
Despite its creepy appearance, the aye aye is a primate like you and I, and one of Madagascarās most extraordinary nocturnal lemurs.
ā¢ Percussive foraging: They use acoustic echolocation to locate prey, tapping tree trunks and listening with super sensitive ears for hollow chambers housing wood-boring insect larvae.
ā¢ Elongated digits: Their elongated, skeletal middle fingers extract grubs, gouge seeds and scoop out the pulp of hard-shelled nuts like coconuts.
ā¢ Rodent-like teeth: Continuously growing incisors that wear down through gnawing bark led early naturalists to mistakenly classify the aye-aye within the mammalian order Rodentia and as a squirrel, due to its toes, hair colouring, and tail.
You can experience the aye aye for yourself on nocturnal walks guided by local naturalists across Madagascarās eastern rainforests.
So... captivatingly cute or creature of fright?! Share your thoughts below.
