Goanna

[Mad Aussie]

This Lace Monitor was close to 2 metres in length. They are also commonly called Goanna's and are seen regularly in our eucalypt forests.
Although they can deliver a nasty bite you'd have to try to handle one to get bitten. At the first sight of you they head for the nearest tree.


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6175/6184740210_48e37e412b_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6159/6184739714_f189753a11_o.jpg

[Iguanasan]

Very cool find and the look he's giving you....Boy he looks annoyed! :)

[Hillbillygirl]

That is really cool. Love that second shot MA.

[Andrew]

It looks like it could move pretty fast when it wants to. Nice close shot on #2. It's hard to tell the size. Next time it would help if you also climbed the tree right beside it so we could get a sense of perspective.:)

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks IG, HBG and Andrew.

If I wanted some lacerations and an nasty infection Andrew I'd ride my bike through a barbed wire fence ;)

[edG]

Glad I don't climb trees - very cool capture MA

[Mad Aussie]

Glad I don't climb trees - very cool capture MA
Do you walk on the ground? Because that's where they are mostly :)

[Matt K.]

Nice captures. 2 meter, you say? Wow, I'd stay away fer shore. I bet they are not the slowest things on the ground, either .... I am so glad you are sharing all these goodies with us, MA, cause chances are I'll never get to Australia. Mind you, seeing this stuff makes me wonder if I should go: crocks, gators, bugs, spiders, snakes and other nasty and possibly poisonous critters ... hmmm .... you find them and continue to show them to us .. works for me :thumbup:

[QuietOne]

That first one reminds me of the Halloween decoration of the witch that flew into the tree! Cool creature.

[JAS_Photo]

Very cool looking fellow! Glad they run away! The more wildlife stays away from man, the better it is for them. Great shots, M.A.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Matt, Q1 and JAS.

They can indeed run very quickly when they want Matt, but mostly they just amble around and scurry up trees when humans get too close.

[thoughton]

Very cool critter! A few years back I spent a week on Komodo and your goannas look nearly identical to the famous dragons. Even the size isn't much different.

I used to know a guy who had a monitor living under his bed for a few weeks. He worked for a rescue centre and it was an abandoned pet. Feeding time consisted of waving a chicken breast at the edge of the bed until the lizard zipped out and almost ripped his fingers off. Not sure I could sleep with a dinosaur under the bed :D

[Mad Aussie]

Komodo's are monitor lizards of course, hence the similarity. I've seen Komodo's at Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's) and they can grow a fair bit bigger than our lizards.
The one in my picture may have been a shade under the 2m mark (I didn't grab a tape measure and measure him :) ) and they are rarely seen larger than that I think.
We do have the Perentie Lizard too though which I think is bigger again.

[thoughton]

I couldn't resist looking it up :) You're right of course, while the kimonos are only a little longer (3m vs 2.5m) than your Perentie they are much fatter and heavier, 4x the weight.

Edit: stupid auto spell check. Komodos, not kimonos :headslap:

[Wicked Dark]

what a fantastic creature. North America is not famous for its lizards, unfortunately. How great that you got one up a tree.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for confirming that I'm brilliant Thoughton ;)

WD ... I'd like to say that I'm some sort of lizard whisperer or that I tracked these creatures for days to finally get one up a tree, but in reality most Aussies who have picnicked or hiked in the bush have seen these monitors climb trees. It's what they do when frightened.

[Wicked Dark]

like squirrels. but with bigger tails. porkies do it, too.

[Mad Aussie]

What the hell is a porkies?

[Wicked Dark]

a porcupine of course! they love trees, but do not google that unless you want thousands of pictures of that stupid band.
http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/40/cute-porcupine_18865.jpg

[Bambi]

neat find. he looks like he's trying to blend in to the bark.

[Mad Aussie]

Ah ... of course ... porcupines. Not having them here didn't make 'porkies' immediate;y apparent ... in fact ... pigs come to mind first.

Thanks Bambi ... They do blend in quite well at times.