Reptilian Rhapsody


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Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Darwin
January 19th 2012
Published: January 19th 2012
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Frilled neck lizardFrilled neck lizardFrilled neck lizard

I was just hanging out on our front lawn, filling up our watering can from the hose, when I noticed this guy keeping a close eye on me!
We've seen loads of different lizards here: water monitors, many different kinds of geckos, goannas, frilled necks, and others I don't know the names of. Yesterday I saw a snake! I was pretty freaked out, it was quite big but unfortunately my photo didn't turn out (and I only took one due to being scared). According to a woman who knows about snakes, it wasn't a poisonous one, although she wasn't sure at first. I had goosebumps for a good hour or so after that.

The lizards stay SO still it is very easy to not even notice them. Now that we've been here a while we are experts at spotting them. The frilled necks are probably my favourites. Usually they are sitting very still under trees and they look like a pile of leaves. It's really cool to see them running around frilling their necks and hissing at birds. They run on two legs and they look very goofy.

The goanna I saw was totally awesome. It was as tall as me! Apparently they can get up to 2 metres long! Gargantuan goannas...

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GoannaGoanna
Goanna

I spotted this guy on our front lawn. He was about five feet long from head to tail tip!
SweetheartSweetheart
Sweetheart

This giant saltie (saltwater croc) died in 1979 while being removed from a local billabong. He was supposed to be brought to a croc farm but wound up stuffed in the Darwin Museum. Poor guy.
Big old saltie!Big old saltie!
Big old saltie!

A close-up of Sweetheart's head. He was about 50 years old when captured.
Frilled neck againFrilled neck again
Frilled neck again

Same guy, just another angle. How cool!!! You can see his neck skin really well on this picture.
Lil guyLil guy
Lil guy

This is our little housemate 'Goody' the gecko. He was about to eat this bug when I caught him so he got camera shy and froze. He may be the least impressive in size but he is the most impressive to me because he keeps our house cockroach free (almost).
Sweetheart's detailsSweetheart's details
Sweetheart's details

Fyi, Sweetheart is a 'regular' sized saltie. There are much LARGER crocs in this area! Eeek.


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