3 Times Bigger Than This!

DAUBENOTIA MADAGASCARIENSIS 

(aka the Aye-Aye)

The Aye-aye is the largest nocturnal primate, supposedly named for the reaction of seeing one watching you in the dark for the first time. "AY-yi-yi!"

I can relate to Alpha in this situation, having been startled in the past by the eyeshine of a raccoon up in a tree that had been watching me for some time. I think, however that an aye-eye might startle me a bit more than a coon. They're a little...well...startling.

Yeeeahhhh...that's a little creepy. I keep thinking that's a puppet. But no, it's real. And about to get slightly creepier.

So, the aye-aye is like a cross between a monkey, and a woodpecker, and a gremlin.

How in sam hill does that work, you ask?

Like this:

The aye-aye has a special, extra-long middle finger that it uses to tap trees, then listens for the sound of grubs inside. Like a woodpecker. Yes, it essentially hunts by flipping its food off. Unlike a woodpecker. 

Look! It found a grub!

Tastes like chicken.

Okay. If you're officially grossed out and want nothing more to do with this bizarre-o critter, here's some adorable eye-bleach. 

I mean, it is kinda cute. 

DAWWW. Yes. Cute. 

Aww lookit. It's hungry. 

YAAGH. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Cute during the day. Kind of terrifying at night. Apparently the Malagasy find the Aye-aye rather creepy too, and consider it a bad omen. Some believe that if it has pointed its freakishly skinny and long finger at you, you're marked for death, and the only way to prevent that is to kill the Aye-aye. This superstition has led to the species decline, and it is now endangered. 

Sweet dreams!