We saw this goanna while we were exploring Lake Windermere. Goanna's are large monitor lizards, this one was a metre or more long. Apparently there are 25 different varieties of them in Australia.
We crossed the border into Victoria cruising down a lovely timbered road before breaking into the rich dairy country of Gippsland. It is wonderful to see the land green after more than 10 years of very dry weather. But most of the state of Victoria is still drought declared. Musing: The Pasture by Robert Frost "I'm going out to clean the pasture spring; I'll only stop to rake the leaves away (And wait to watch the water clear, I may): I sha'n't be gone long. You come too. I'm going out to fetch the little calf That's standing by the mother. It's so young, It totters when she licks it with her tongue. I sha'n't be gone long. You come too."
When I was about 9 - maybe 1957 or so - my grandfather shot 3 goannas out of the Apple Tree (yep, THAT apple tree) above the chook pen - they had been stealing eggs.
ReplyDeleteUs three kids dragged the dead goannas up to the main road and lined them up in full view of passing motorists. We waited for a day or so until the carcasses bloated up and then giggled our heads off as cars screached to a halt thinking they had seen crocodiles.
screeched ... blush ...
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