A long-lived library mascot in Morinville has died.
Visitors to the Morinville Public Library this month may have noticed the empty glass terrarium that for six years held the library’s mascot, Loki the chameleon.
Loki died Jan. 8, 2020, at roughly six years old.
A mostly green striped lizard with a big crest on his head, Loki was a veiled chameleon purchased pre-owned from a now-defunct pet store in Edmonton, and made his debut at the library in April 2014, said Morinville library manager Isabelle Cramp.
“He was pretty grumpy at first,” she recalled, but soon grew used to his handlers, and would spend his days crawling along branches, licking up crickets and rotating his turret-like eyes to the delight of patrons.
Library staff would often use Loki as an educational aide for tour groups to talk about reptiles, Cramp said. When he wasn’t teaching kids, Loki would often lounge about in his cricket bowl and wait for someone to feed him his favourite treat, hornworms. A veterinarian said Loki, whose species typically lives up to eight years, was in excellent health for his age last November.
Cramp said a library patron spotted Loki lying on his side on Jan. 8, which was unusual behaviour for the mascot. Staff determined he was dying and took him to a back room, where he died a few hours later.
Loki’s terrarium now bears a poster explaining his fate as well as a few drawings of him by area youths.
People young and old have since told library staff how much Loki meant to them, Cramp said.
“For some of them, pretty much the highlight of their day was coming in to see Loki.”
Morinville Mayor Barry Turner said Loki would certainly be missed.
“Our library is a real community centre, it’s a community hub, and our friend Loki the chameleon was a major part of that.”
While they’ll never be able to replace Loki, Cramp said the library plans to bring in another chameleon mascot later this year. In the meantime, the library’s other animals – Bubble the fish and Yoda, Jabba, Chewy and Vader the fire-bellied toads – are still around.
