Hard to imagine that it's 10 years since I first emailed my friend Lucy on what must have been a busy day at work about an unusual animal I had been reading about on the internet, the solenodon. A few weeks later and a new species of macaque hit the news...and for the next 3 years animal of the week was a pretty regular feature, first Lucy forwarded it to a couple of friends, and then I started sending it to more and more people, who signed up their friends. It was a mailout then. At its peak over 250 people were on the mailing list—and only a few people got pissed off.
As time went on, the world changed. A blog seemed more sensible than a mailout. My MSc in evolutionary biology at the Natural History Museum seemed, ironically, to rob me of my fervour for disseminating animal info. And the pressures of freelance work, love, life, and generally being a louche gad-about got in the way. But I keep it up occasionally for some amusement—and I also do AOTW every once in a while.
Of the 230 odd posts, the most viewed AOTW is the starling from February 2013, which is pleasing as it was based on personal experience. The next most viewed was in defense of the shoebill. My personal favourite is probably the mountain beaver because it contains a pun referencing an art critic.
This week, as it's Hallowe'en, I thought I'd post this video of an animal featured on Wonders of the Monsoon, and excellent BBC series about the wildlife of countries affected by the monsoon. Mimobdella buettikofer (giant red leech), lives on Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo, it's not a blood sucking leech, rather it feeds on the giant blue earthworms (Pheretima darnleiensis) that also live on Borneo's highest peak. There's not really a great deal to add to the video... so yeah, have a look, and sweet dreams.
