The things you see walking to the bus
Today I learned to always be aware of your surroundings...lol..That's a 2 metre long Monitor Lizard.
Holy Monstrous Lizards Batman, get a size of that thing!
Monitor Lizards are fairly common around my work as there are a lot of lakes and waterways for them, but usually they are around 2 to 3 feet long and in the water. Today I crossed paths with this guy just going for a casual stroll. He was about 2 metres long and would have been about 30cm across his gut, and he was swaggering along with the confidence of a lizard that didn't need to worry about anything...and he really didn't. Even exposed on the land like this he would have no natural predators and would even give most small dogs a run for their money.
Although water monitors are common throughout South-East Asia, it is rare that they grow over 1.5 metres. I'm guessing this guy had lived a good life.
When we got close to each other he did notice me, and dropped to the ground, and I guess was looking, smelling and listening to my movements. I wonder if he thought about eating me. :p I'll be careful to watch where I am going next time I walk past this area, its clearly his territory!
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I love our Goannas in Australia I didn't know they had an Asian cousin.
yeah, there are a lot of similarities to goanna, but these guys are a bit heavier-set and prefer to spend most of their time in the water. If I saw this guy in the water I would think he was a croc!
wow he is amazing.
yeah he was a total beast!
Wow he does look beautiful. I have not seen them before.
Well, that's very sweet
haha, I'm not sure sweet is the word I would use to decribe him :)
Oh wow, this is really cool! Thanks for writing about your experiences. It's really interesting to be able to read firsthand experiences from animal encounters :) Where in Southeast-Asia was this? Japan (just a guess based on a glance at your post history)?
This was about 30 kilometres west of Bangkok, but I'd love to get to Indonesia and see this guys big brother, the real "Komodo Dragons" that would be amazing.
Awesome post! Upvoted followed and resteemed!
It would be hard for me not to say hi to that monitor, up close and personal!
To be honest, I'm not really worried by lizards, now snakes...that's another matter. There was a small gully/stream and about 5 metres between us, but I think if I tried to get closer he would have disappeared under the water pretty quickly. They are usually quite wary of humans, that's why I was surprised how bold this guy was.
Yeah, it's a little hard for me not to say hi sometimes...
I can't even remember how many times I've jumped into the water after animals too.
Haha awesome. I love ocean creatures and am happiest when I am swimming among them. Some people call me "Turtle"..which is fine by me
The lizard I caught today was only a few inches long!
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