Welcome to wee-aye-aye.com, the website is now online! I hope you’ll enjoy exploring the pages. I will continue to add content in the portfolio section and items in the shop.

Why I named the website Wee aye-aye

You may wonder why the website is called Wee aye-aye. First of all, the aye-aye is a very intriguing  nocturnal lemur primate. In the wild, lemurs can only be found in Madagascar. They share a common ancestor with apes and monkeys, but evolved in isolation for tens of millions of years. Many different types of lemur evolved to occupy niches that elsewhere are filled by rodents, birds, monkeys and grazers. The aye-aye fills the niche of the woodpecker. Its ring finger has evolved to be long and thick and the aye-aye uses it to tap on the wood. Using its large ears it can echo-locate larvae living in the bark of the tree. It then uses its rodent-like teeth to gnaw a hole. The middle finger has evolved to be long and thin and it possesses a ball-in-socket joint to make it very flexible, like the tongue of a woodpecker, so that it can poke around in the hole and pull out the larve. I think lemurs, and aye-ayes in particular, are amazing examples of the process of evolution. In Madagascar the elusive aye-aye always had the reputation of being mysterious and magical, and was even feared. Admittedly, the aye-aye is a bit odd in its appearance, but very cute at the same time and his underdog reputation adds to its charm. They definitely have the coolest hands of the animal kingdom!

The other reason for choosing Wee aye-aye as the name for the website has to do with my partner Lawrie and me settling in Glasgow. I’m originally from Amsterdam and have lived there for most of my life. My English has become quite good over time, but I’ve never been able to lose my Dutch accent. Since I’ve met Lawrie, who’s originally from Glasgow, I’ve taken over some Scottish words and one of the first words I adopted were “wee” and “aye” without initially really being aware of it. I really enjoy living in Glasgow and it has become my second home. I therefore liked the idea of referring to the Scottish dialect when choosing the name for the website.