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Photo of the Day #561: Giant anteater

By laelaps on April 24, 2009.

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A giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), photographed at the National Zoo.


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mammals
Photography

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Man, keeping that guy fed must be a challenge! (Do they eat fire ants?)

I love these things, they are so weird. I could do with one to come and eat the ants that seem to think they own our house.

From my background reading on them the I believe the captive diet is basically a meat and vegetable "soup" laced with formic acid. The problem with them is they are rather more dangerous than they look - those front claws can rip through termite mounds as hard as concrete and, being short sighted, they have a tendency to assume that anything unusual(like a keeper)is a threat.