Exim: The Mail Transfer Agent

Colophon

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The animal on the cover of Exim: The Mail Transfer Agent is an aye-aye. The aye-aye is part of the order of primates, and in fact is part of the lemur group. Native to Madagascar, they are considered one of the strangest looking primates, and not very much is known about them. A full-grown adult is about the size of a raccoon. Its features include large round ears, black fur with white spots, a flat nose, and big round eyes. Two very distinctive characteristics of the aye-aye are its incisor teeth, which never stop growing, and its long, spindly fingers, of which the middle finger is the longest. Both of these traits are used as tools in hunting food. The aye-aye lives mostly on bug larvae and fruit; it often uses its teeth to break open dead tree bark, then uses its long middle finger to reach inside and take hold of the bugs.

The aye-aye is completely nocturnal, and lives mostly in trees in the forest. Unfortunately, it is dangerously close to extinction. One reason for this is that its natural habitat, the rain forest, is gradually being destroyed for resources. Due to this loss of its food source, the aye-aye has had to forage for food in other areas, and often steals from local farms. For this reason, it is killed as a pest. ...