Yeah! The nictating membrane is what it is called!

🤓

@@jenn976 this is a super good question. Maybe I could sell hyrax dung fertilizer. Cause with all these new tenets I have a ton of it now. 😂😂😂

@@procaviacapensis it’s my pleasure!!!! Thanks for watching. I love them so much.

Totally weird. Share a family with elephants and sea manatees. For real.

No. In fact they share a classification with two other animals: elephants and sea manatees. Crazy huh??

@@squiggythehyrax really? who would have thought!!

They don’t even shut their eyes to sleep. If they are sleeping (and they are your friend and are cool with you) you can manually shut their eyelids. But yeah, they don’t seem to shut them unless they are in pain. (As far as I can tell)

@@squiggythehyrax probably coming from generations being on high alert. Predators in the sky and on the ground, it was probably a disadvantage to blink.

Good observation. They have fun noses. I have some pretty great nose footage somewhere...

It hurt. Honestly it hurt.

You clearly have good and decent thoughts.

Yeah! I didn’t know they existed until I moved into the house and my landlord was like “oh no one even notices these creatures - but they are fascinating.”

Awwww thanks!

Yeah it’s funny - and honestly these guys know me the least of all the ones ive had here over the past few years. Most encounters with hyrax are just barely seeing them run away. People assume they are rats because they don’t really get good looks at them in the wild. Dashing away is their number one defense. But here I just get to dwell with them.

@@squiggythehyrax Whereabouts is this exactly? Central/South America? The bird calls are kind of exotic.

@@drownthepoor I’m next to the Nairobi National Park in Kenya.

@@squiggythehyrax Yeah I checked your intro video out and realized it. I forgot they are African species. How is Africa? So many interesting species of fauna flora there.

@@drownthepoor it’s great. We have more species of birds near my house than all of the UK.

They love you too!!

It’s a tad bit boring - the view from my back room is better because it sees where they eat and take diet baths. But I haven’t been working from home much lately.

They really are growing up! It looks like another family has joined. I found 7 babies as night fell tonight. There’s three that look to be a month younger.

@@squiggythehyrax are there more moving in to your location or are there more being born?

@@WINDRIVERSTUDIOS They are moving in. There was a time when I would have as many as 15 - 20 living here. Seems like the numbers are back up - mostly women and children though. The old males seem to be missing. Its sad.

Yup! During the day it’s when I use the toilet (since they sun themselves here, on the roof of my bathroom) and at night they sleep above my bedroom. I hear ‘em scratch too. But it’s very faint. Not at all disturbing.

Yup. They are all over different regions of the continent and Middle East.

They can for sure!

@@squiggythehyrax They seem to have short and muscular jaw, so they could develop pretty decent force. Somebody once told me that if they have horns, hooves, teeth, claws or are aware of their weight or height, be sure they know perfectly well how to use them. But hyrax is pretty cute :)

Right! So many people even here where they are have no idea. They barely notice them in the wild. And they certainly don’t know them by name.

I’ll try next time. 🤣

Yes. The baby I grabbed from the cobra bit me. Squig got surprised by me once and put two holes in my nose. But that’s about it. I feel like I got it another time from a rescued baby - but yeah