Day 4 cont
Professor Abraham
"During a foraging period, they will stop to dig a V-shaped trench with their forefeet and then sniff it profusely as a means to explore their location," I continue.
"When a concentration of ants or termites is detected, the aardvark digs into it with its powerful front legs, keeping its long ears upright to listen for predators, and takes up an astonishing number of insects with its long, sticky tongue; as many as 50,000 in one night have been recorded," I say. 
Its claws enable it to dig through the extremely hard crust of a termite or ant mound quickly, and it avoids inhaling the dust by sealing the nostrils," I say.
"When successful, the aardvark's long, up to 30 centimeter tongue licks up the insects; the termites' biting or the ants' stinging attacks are rendered futile by the tough skin," I say. 
"After an aardvark visit to a termite mound, other animals will visit to pick up all the leftovers, but termite mounds alone don't provide enough food for the aardvark, so they look for termites that are on the move, and when these insects move, they can form columns 10 to 40 meters long, and these tend to provide easy pickings with little effort exerted by the aardvark," I add. 
"These columns are more common in areas of livestock or other hoofed animals, and trampled grass and dung attract termites from the Odontotermes, Microtermes, and Pseudacanthotermes genera." I take a deep breath and subconsciously look to her side.
She looks so bored, so to speak, and her pretty-looking face has turned into a frown.
I almost felt pity for her, but then I remembered why I was doing all this. It's for her own safety.
Had she heeded my instructions as well, this wouldn't have happened.
"On a nightly basis, they tend to be more active during the first portion of the night, roughly the four hours between 8:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.; however, they don't seem to prefer bright or dark nights over the others." I shrug her thoughts off and try to continue. 
"During adverse weather or if disturbed, they will retreat to their burrow systems, and they cover between 2 and 5 kilometers per night; however, some studies have shown that they may traverse as far as 30 kilometers in a night; that's too far even for a human being to cover in a night," I say.
"Also, the aardvark is a rather quiet animal; however, it does make soft grunting sounds as it forages and loud grunts as it makes for its tunnel entrance. It makes a bleating sound if frightened, just like it was doing earlier, but now it seems to have gotten used to its faith," I say.
The poor thing has even decided to retreat to one corner.
"When it is threatened, it will make for one of its burrows. If one is not close, it will dig a new one rapidly. This new one will be short and require the aardvark to back out when the coast is clear, but clearly, this one's young, and so it was outsmarted," I say.
"The aardvark is also known to be a good swimmer and has been witnessed successfully swimming in strong currents. It can also dig a yard of tunnel in about five minutes, but otherwise moves fairly slowly," I say.
"When leaving the burrow at night, they pause at the entrance for about ten minutes, sniffing and listening; then, after this period of watchfulness, it will bound out, and within seconds, it will be 10 meters away," I say. 
"It will then pause, prick its ears, twist its head to listen, then jump and move off to start foraging."
"Aside from digging out ants and termites, the aardvark also excavates burrows in which to live, which generally fall into one of three categories: burrows made while foraging, refuge and resting locations, and permanent homes," I say. 
"Temporary sites are scattered around the home range and are used as refuges, while the main burrow is also used for breeding. The main burrows can be deep and extensive, have several entrances, and can be as long as 13 meters, and these burrows can be large enough for a person to enter," I say. 
"The aardvark changes the layout of its home burrow regularly and periodically moves on and makes a new one, and the old burrows are an important part of the African wildlife scene as they are vacated, then they are inhabited by smaller animals like the African wild dog, ant-eating chat, Nycteris thebaica, and warthogs, and if we are lucky enough, we might find these sites as well," I say. 
"Other animals that use them are hares, mongooses, hyenas, owls, pythons, and lizards, and without these refuges, many animals would die during wildfire season," I say. 
"Only mothers and young share burrows; however, the aardvark is known to live in small family groups or as a solitary creature," I say. 
"If attacked in the tunnel, it will escape by digging out of the tunnel, thereby placing the fresh fill between it and its predator, or if it decides to fight, it will roll onto its back and attack with its claws," I say.
"The aardvark has been known to sleep in a recently excavated ant nest, which also serves as protection from its predators."
"Aardvarks pair only during the breeding season, and after a gestation period of seven months, one cub weighing around 1.7 to 1.9 kilograms is born from May to July," I say.
"When born, the young have flaccid ears and many wrinkles, and when nursing, they will nurse off each teat in succession," I say.
"After two weeks, the folds of skin disappear, and after three, the ears can be held upright, and after 5–6 weeks, body hair starts growing." 
"It is able to leave the burrow to accompany its mother after only two weeks, eats termites at 9 weeks, and is weaned between three months and 16 weeks," I say.
"At six months of age, it is able to dig its own burrows, but it will often remain with the mother until the next mating season and is sexually mature at approximately two years of age," I add.
"Aardvarks were thought to have declining numbers; however, this is possibly because they are not readily seen and there are no definitive counts because of their nocturnal and secretive habits; however, their numbers seem to be stable overall."
"They are also not considered common anywhere in Africa, but due to their large range, they maintain sufficient numbers, but there may be a slight decrease in numbers in eastern, northern, and western Africa," I say. 
"Southern African numbers are not decreasing, and it received an official designation from the IUCN as least concern; however, they are a species in a precarious situation, as they are so dependent on such specific food; therefore, if a problem arises with the abundance of termites, the species as a whole would be affected drastically," I say.
"You see, that's how nature works; we are all dependent on each other," I say.
"Aardvarks handle captivity well, and the first zoo to have one was London Zoo in 1869, which had an animal from South Africa," I continue.
"Also in African folklore, the aardvark is much admired because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants," I say. 
"The Hausa magicians in Nigeria make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark, which they then proceed to pound together with the root of a certain tree, wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest. The charm is said to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night," I say.
"The charm is said to be used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parents' permission." 
While saying that, I subconsciously looked over at Nina. Well, I hope her new friend won't try that with me, for I will skin him alive. 
The students also started murmuring at that part.
"Now, let's maintain silence, please, for I want us to leave as soon as possible," I say, and that guy gets their attention.
'Also, some tribes, such as the Margbetu, Ayanda, and Logo, use aardvark teeth to make bracelets, which are regarded as good luck charms," I continue. 
"The meat, which has a resemblance to pork, is eaten in certain cultures as well," I say.
"Also, the ancient Egyptian god 'Set' is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal, whose similarity to an aardvark has been noted in scholarship," I say.
"Now I think that's enough for today," I say as I see the dark clouds starting to form.
With that, I opened the cage where the aardvark was put, and as soon as I did that, he rushed out, and within no time, he was burrowing a tunnel through the ground.
"See, he has even decided to give us a demonstration," I pointed out.
All the students were amazed at how fast that young thing could burrow.
Some of the naughty students even tried to look in.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, or else you'll be left with a permanent mark on your face," I warned them.
All seemed to have gotten the message as they moved away.
With that, we wrapped up the day.
We all start heading back to the camp site, but unfortunately for us, the rain started dropping heavily, and we had to run all the way back as we had not actually prepared ourselves for a sudden rain fall like this. 
Before we could reach the camp, everyone was drenched.