Go Anna! She's back!
Sep. 23rd, 2006 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eYesterday all the birds were making a big fuss, gathering in a frantic group shouting out what sounded to me like "Snake! Snake!".
I thought "Goody, maybe it is the pretty little green tree snake again." I went outside and looked around, but could only see lots of small micky birds in the shrubs hysterically shouting, and a large magpie at the center. That seemed pretty odd to me, because although magpies can take baby birds from time to time they don't seem to be much of a threat to the little micky birds who mob anybody who bothers them.
The micky birds are cocky and tribal and nobody can really stand against them. On the whole they and the magpies seem to have an understanding and generally get along fine. So it was weird. I thought that perhaps there was a snake, but it had slid into the undergrowth before I got a chance to see.
Later in the day I'd cooked up a couple of eggs and ate the first outside on a slice of bread. I'd just come inside again to put the second on another slice when I heard the ruckus again, this time at my door. I opened it and peeked out. There were the mickey birds and a couple of magpies again. But it was even stranger this time. The micky birds weren't looking at the magpies or me (other than the occasional glance) and the magpie nearest me (about a meter away) wasn't looking at me either. It was looking past me. Just then I heard a scritch sound and looked to my left to see a goanna walking into my bathroom. It was a bit more than a meter long. Oh my! So this is what it was all about!
I ran into my bedroom to fetch my camera, then I followed the goanna into my bathroom. It was understandably a little freaked and tried to hide behind the washing machine, then around behind the full-length mirror. I ran back to the kitchen, got my second egg (it had cooled sufficiently), and emptied it onto a plate to offer it as a friendly gesture. Moving the mirror out of the way I placed the egg on saucer on the floor next to the goanna who could smell it (the long, forked tongue flicked out a few times to taste the air) but wasn't going to move. It was seriously worried. Was I going to attack?
I left the room to give it some privacy.
When I returned several minutes later the egg, or most of it, was gone, with the remains spattered all around. Messy eater. It didn't seem to mind me so much anymore and continued to eat.
Eventually it decided it had been fun, but it was time to be moving on. The bathroom was very dark for my poor little camera so I stood back near the wall, opposite the door, hoping this would persuade the goanna to go out into the brighter light, but it walked around behind me, brushing my boots as it passed.
In time, after being puzzled by its reflection in the shower glass, it ambled out. I followed quietly. Clearly it felt that I was stalking it (I was of course) and it took off at high speed, so I didn't get my outside shot.
But today there was the ruckus again. Had the goanna returned for more hospitality? Perhaps, but the birds drove it around the side of the house, past the entrance this time. It was amazing to watch the birds -- three species cooperating to harry the poor goanna. The small micky birds would use their greater numbers to keep the area covered with lookouts so the goanna couldn't hide. The larger butcher birds would hassle the goanna at moderately close range, and the large magpies flew in close and seemed to actually make contact. Ouch. Those wicked beaks! But the goanna didn't just take it. It would snap back at them. Those jaws are strong, and recent research has shown that monitor lizards are venomous.
It used to be thought that the Gila was the only lizard with a poisonous bite, and that monitors simply used mouth bacteria to kill their victims, but after a researcher noticed that the effects worked too fast for bacteria he looked at the matter more closely and found that they actually use poison.
I so love this place. I'll be very unhappy to leave.
I thought "Goody, maybe it is the pretty little green tree snake again." I went outside and looked around, but could only see lots of small micky birds in the shrubs hysterically shouting, and a large magpie at the center. That seemed pretty odd to me, because although magpies can take baby birds from time to time they don't seem to be much of a threat to the little micky birds who mob anybody who bothers them.
The micky birds are cocky and tribal and nobody can really stand against them. On the whole they and the magpies seem to have an understanding and generally get along fine. So it was weird. I thought that perhaps there was a snake, but it had slid into the undergrowth before I got a chance to see.Later in the day I'd cooked up a couple of eggs and ate the first outside on a slice of bread. I'd just come inside again to put the second on another slice when I heard the ruckus again, this time at my door. I opened it and peeked out. There were the mickey birds and a couple of magpies again. But it was even stranger this time. The micky birds weren't looking at the magpies or me (other than the occasional glance) and the magpie nearest me (about a meter away) wasn't looking at me either. It was looking past me. Just then I heard a scritch sound and looked to my left to see a goanna walking into my bathroom. It was a bit more than a meter long. Oh my! So this is what it was all about!I ran into my bedroom to fetch my camera, then I followed the goanna into my bathroom. It was understandably a little freaked and tried to hide behind the washing machine, then around behind the full-length mirror. I ran back to the kitchen, got my second egg (it had cooled sufficiently), and emptied it onto a plate to offer it as a friendly gesture. Moving the mirror out of the way I placed the egg on saucer on the floor next to the goanna who could smell it (the long, forked tongue flicked out a few times to taste the air) but wasn't going to move. It was seriously worried. Was I going to attack?
I left the room to give it some privacy.
When I returned several minutes later the egg, or most of it, was gone, with the remains spattered all around. Messy eater. It didn't seem to mind me so much anymore and continued to eat.
Eventually it decided it had been fun, but it was time to be moving on. The bathroom was very dark for my poor little camera so I stood back near the wall, opposite the door, hoping this would persuade the goanna to go out into the brighter light, but it walked around behind me, brushing my boots as it passed.
In time, after being puzzled by its reflection in the shower glass, it ambled out. I followed quietly. Clearly it felt that I was stalking it (I was of course) and it took off at high speed, so I didn't get my outside shot.
But today there was the ruckus again. Had the goanna returned for more hospitality? Perhaps, but the birds drove it around the side of the house, past the entrance this time. It was amazing to watch the birds -- three species cooperating to harry the poor goanna. The small micky birds would use their greater numbers to keep the area covered with lookouts so the goanna couldn't hide. The larger butcher birds would hassle the goanna at moderately close range, and the large magpies flew in close and seemed to actually make contact. Ouch. Those wicked beaks! But the goanna didn't just take it. It would snap back at them. Those jaws are strong, and recent research has shown that monitor lizards are venomous.
It used to be thought that the Gila was the only lizard with a poisonous bite, and that monitors simply used mouth bacteria to kill their victims, but after a researcher noticed that the effects worked too fast for bacteria he looked at the matter more closely and found that they actually use poison.
I so love this place. I'll be very unhappy to leave.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 03:44 am (UTC)Yeah, I was rapt to meet the cute little goanna. The birds were unbelievably pissed. I've never seen such interspecies cooperation before in ganging up against a common threat.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 05:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 06:01 am (UTC)And aren't Tetris and Spider Solitaire what life is all about?