Meet the aardwolf — a shy, nocturnal member of the hyena family that prefers termites and insects. But don’t be fooled by their peaceful diet, when it comes to territory, aardwolves are very serious. Aardwolves have anal glands that produce a strong-smelling secretion, which they use to mark their territory boundaries. The scent fades after a few days, so aardwolves re-mark frequently to maintain a clear signal to rivals. Shout out to our fantastic Founder Bill Given for this footage! . . . #the

The aardwolf, whose name means “earth wolf” in Afrikaans, is a shy nocturnal member of the hyena family that lives a life completely different from its scavenging relatives. Instead of hunting large prey, it survives almost entirely on termites. Using its sharp hearing and sense of smell, the aardwolf locates surface-foraging termites and laps them up with its long, sticky tongue. Remarkably, it does not destroy termite colonies, allowing them to repopulate and provide a continuous food source.