Snakes, sand flies and stumpy-tailed lizards

Athol, who lives on the outskirts of Mitchell and is very generously looking after Doug's 1940 Plymouth sedan, has been visited by an unusual number of snakes. This past week he's found and killed (because of the risk of his dogs being bitten) four large highly venomous King brown snakes -- all in his garden.

Athol's daughter found a 7 to 8 foot long King brown snake basking on her verandah, the biggest Athol has ever seen. It seems that the flood waters of the Maranoa River have caused snakes to be out and about, and on the move.

Our friend and neighbour Richard offers a free and immediate snake removal service in and around Mitchell. Richard prefers to see snakes caught and relocated into bushland, rather than be killed.

With reptiles on my mind, and the temperature hovering around 34°C here on Phillip Island, I'd like to give you an update about Stego, my 41-year-old pet stumpy-tailed lizard.

Stego and I share a love of sunshine and consider a temperature of about 26°C to be ideal. As far as food is concerned though, our tastes differ. Stego loves garden snails, Whiskers cat food (but not of the fish variety) and very ripe bananas.

Hard shiny scales protect him from the sand flies that are currently swarming in the green grass of our garden. These sandflies are a huge problem for our dogs, but not Stego.

With an eccentric yet sensitive personality, my stumpy-tailed lizard is a true survivor.

A dragon with an arc of spines: Mitchell outback Qld

"Come quickly and with your camera," yelled Doug from the front door. So of course I came.

Standing motionless on the grass, close to the road, stood an eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata) -- pretending it wasn't there. But it was, and so I took lots of photos of this handsome heavily-built dragon with an arc of spines around its neck.

Finally, however, he took flight and with the speed of lightning. There is no way any human could have moved that fast.

Later on, while identifying the dragon in a book about Australian reptiles, I read the following:

"When approached it freezes, or if threatened it attempts to frighten an opponent by standing up, inflating its body and 'beard' and opening its mouth wide to reveal the bright yellow lining. It may rush an intruder, and will bite if handled carelessly.

"Some 75 different displays have been recorded included head-bobbing, arm-waving, push-ups, head-licking, beard-erection, body inflation, biting and colour changing. Dominant males display frequently, particularly during courtship and in territorial defence."

This dragon lays eggs, whereas stumpy-tailed lizards (like my 40 year old pet, Stego) give birth to live young.

Out of hibernation, my 40 year old lizard

I know it's not world shattering news but Stego (my 4o-year-old stumpy-tailed lizard) ate half a banana today, after not eating anything since March of this year.

I left his banana on top of his enclosure and out of his reach for about 15 minutes because Stego prefers his food warm. With the temperature around 26°C (in Mitchell, outback Queensland) and the aroma of sun-warmed banana spilling into his house, Stego's nostrils began twitching and he reached up eagerly as I hand fed him as much as he wanted, which was half a banana.

There was no snatching, accidental biting, nor a sticky mouth. This stumpy-tailed lizard of mine has perfect manners.