An anteater is a real animal, not a cartoon. It lives in the Americas. It has a very long, tube-like snout and a long sticky tongue, and it uses both to pull ants and termites out of nests. It does not hunt with strong biting teeth the way a dog does; the tongue and the claws do the work. People say it eats small insects, and that is right — though actually it is choosier than ‘any bug’: ants and termites are the meal. There are several kinds; the giant anteater is the one most pictures show, with a huge bushy tail, often walking on its knuckles. It is not the same animal as an aardvark, which lives in Africa and only looks similar if you remember ‘long nose, eats ants’. The English name is honest about the diet. It has nothing to do with anti- (‘against’).

食蟻獸