Looks a bit big and scary to me.

Merry Christmas to all!

Inga

I had quite a few goannas living on my place but unfortunately the cane toads wiped them all out. Anyway wish Gary a Merry Christmas, and also to you and everyone else that looks in on this site.

They do look big and scary, inga but they frighten very easily. If you do happen to surprise one, and Gary always knows when I'm around long before I know he's there, it'll dart off for the nearest tree and run straight up well out of reach. Gary was heading off for the denser undercover when I took this picture, even so I had to use the telephoto lens.
B

Thank you, for the info. I'm glad Gary is" skittish".
I certainly would be.

He's a real charmer Bill and might be looking for a bit of Christmas Pud!! What a disaster the cane toads are.Instead of
sending billions of dollars overseas for aid most of which goes in corruption we should use it to eradicate -or greatly diminish this menace.
chas

Been a be short on cane toads this year, Chas; I reckon the extreme dry has kept them away. Thank God Gary has woken up to them, he's been around some years now guess he's aware of their toxicity.

How wonderful to have this fantastic Reptile visit your garden.
Hopefully Gary will be around for many years to come and that he visits often.

Lace Monitors, like "Gary", appear to instinctively not touch cane toads. That's what's saved them up and down the east coast. Most other goannas only learn by experience. They apparently need to have an ecnounter where they only get a bit of the toad toxin. Enough to give them a bad taste or mild sickness. They then learn to avoid the toads. However, that doesn't happen most of the time, hence the collapse of the goanna population. I'm currently being visited by one that's learned, A Water Goanna or Water Monitor, Varanus mertensi. Because they're aquatic (with a flattened tail adapted to swimming) it's around in my dam during the wet season but disappears later during the dry season.

Informative as usual tropicca. any news on Funnelweb Bill?

chas

Haven't seen him around for ages. He said he was moving to FB, maybe that's where he is.

Nah, I'm still around, just lost me way a bit.