Lace Monitor

hollydolly said:
My goodness your photos are just stunning...thanks for posting
Click to expand...

Thanks again hollydolly...I was a member of Wildlife Photographers Australia for some time but didn't like the way it was run so went back to doing my own "thing"
I was recently appointed official photographer for our local aircraft museum, the guys are currently restoring a very rare F4U-1 Corsair (WW2 fighter) so my wildlife "stuff' has been on hold for a while but I really want to get back to it, it's my favourite type of photography...
 
Much better tempered than the average possum too.

My only close encounter with a large goanna was camping on a headland south of Bateman's Bay.
The resident goanna could be seen coming and going every day, climbing trees and sunning himself near our tent.
Eventually he was happy to receive boiled eggs from our hands.

The possums, on the other hand, squabbled with each other incessantly but mostly when we were trying to sleep.
 
Stunning photo. Are these monitors carnivores or herbivores?

Dame Warrigal, For a minute I thought you were joking about monitors climbing up a body. Guess not.

Sort of like our chipmunks this side of the pond, they love to be fed and will climb a person feeding them peanuts.
 
Goanna diets vary greatly depending on the species and the habitat. Prey can include all manner of small animals: insects, smaller lizards, snakes, mammals, birds, and eggs. The one we observed was seen climbing up a tree with rosella (red and blue parrot) in his mouth. I don't know whether he caught it alive or took advantage of some carrion. A goanna's mouth is not terrible sanitary and you wouldn't want to be bitten by one. They are not aggressive though, preferring to run rather than attack.
 
Thanks Dame Warrigal, while I would not have wanted to see the parrot killed I always try to remember it is nature's way.
 

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