Valentina Desideri
From Sweet and Tender
Contacts:
She is currently living in PAF, Performig Art Forum, France http://www.pa-f.net/
tel: ++33 (0)6 20 45 83 49
e-mail: valedesideri@gmail.com
...performing one of her favourite activities...
Her body and limbs are long and slender, measuring between 160 and 167 cm. Her face is tapered, coming to a point at the nose and rounded at the forehead. Her ears are small and crescent-shaped. The color of her coat varies seasonally and geographically. The ventral parts of the body are only sparsely covered with hair. The skull exhibits large eye sockets with distinctive dark patches around the eyes, which help deflect the sun's glare.
Although she is basically diurnal, her activity is controlled largely by the soil temperature. She is only active when the sun is present and warms the surface of her burrow. When the weather is overcast or raining, she does not emerge from her underground retreat. Similarly, during midday, if temperatures are too high, she will return to the burrow to cool off.
She is highly social and lives in gangs consisting of up to 30 individuals. Within gangs, they are usually friendly, but serious fights can occasionally erupt. She then often leaves her gang with other members to found a new gang. At night they all sleeps huddled together.
In the morning, she slowly emerges and it may take 20 minutes or more to surface. Then, the long process of completely waking up begins. She stands on her legs and faces the sun to soak up solar energy until her droopy head finally snaps to attention. After a 30-or-so minute warm-up, she starts to interact, groom, and engage in burrow maintenance. To get something to eat, she stands near an adult and constantly emit a begging call that seems to become harsher and more annoying as the day wears on. She learnt to beg when she was still weeks-old and finding out how to take care of herself.
Under threaten or attack, she can appear larger than she actually is. She arches her back, standing as tall as possible on all four, with hair and tail erect, and her head lowered. At the same time, she will rock back and forth, growl, hiss, and spit in an attempt to intimidate her enemy.
In some areas, she is regarded as pests (The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens). This label is probably correlated with the ecological effects of her constructions and being carrier of diseases. However she adapts well to captive settings and is a popular zoo exhibit animal (van Staaden, 1994).
