Monito del monte

I'm thinking that this will not be an art week as I'd like to get the damage in the studio cleaned up. Though I should still get the January shows mailed off.

Animal

photo by Gabriel Ortiz. G

The Monito del monte (Dromiciop gliroides) is a small marsupial found in the mountains of Chile and Argentina mostly in Chilean bamboo forests. They are nocturnal omnivores with prehensile tails it is said that their metabolism is so fast they can double their body weight within a week. They are more closely related to Australian marsupials then American marsupials and it is thought that they are related to some marsupials that came to South America from Australia via Antarctica. The Huilliche of Chile have a malignant somewhat vampiric creature called the Colo-colo that has the body of a long mouse and the head of a rooster and will drink the saliva of sleeping people in a way that is eventually fatal it also cries like a baby. The native people of that area also call this animal a colocolo and consider it such bad luck they will burn their houses down if it is seen living in the house. I think these things may be related.

Cartoon explaining the colocolo legend and the house burning