Water Monitor (Varanus salvator)
Bangkok, Thailand
This lizard is a little over five feet (1.5mtr) long, about
average for an adult (but we did see some well over 6 1/2 feet). The first time I saw one in Thailand I was really excited, so eager to get a decent photo -- I thought we might have found something really special. It didn't take long to figure out that they're pretty much everywhere in Thailand. We saw them in many lakes, rivers, ponds, canals, just about every body of water that we spent any time observing. This guy was in a little flooded, muddy ornamental pond outside a large hospital on a very busy main road.
Very cool animals and obviously very adaptive. Surprisingly fast runners and very graceful swimmers. They're carnivorous, often dining on on the remains of unfortunate animals or discarded scraps of meat, and they also pursue live prey. We saw a few leave the water with still-flopping fish, and I saw one near this location (maybe the same individual) make a quick grab for an inattentive pigeon. He only managed to a mouthful of feathers, and the pigeon left the area with great haste.
These lizards are usually pretty skittish, not too easy to approach very closely. I watched this one slide from the grass bank down to the edge of the pond, then sat down and waited just in case he came back up. He did crawl back up, and I guess he didn't see me until I clicked the shutter. This is a nearly uncropped shot, (but at 300mm, so I wasn't too close).
Water Monitor (Varanus salvator)
Bangkok, Thailand
This lizard is a little over five feet (1.5mtr) long, about
average for an adult (but we did see some well over 6 1/2 feet). The first time I saw one in Thailand I was really excited, so eager to get a decent photo -- I thought we might have found something really special. It didn't take long to figure out that they're pretty much everywhere in Thailand. We saw them in many lakes, rivers, ponds, canals, just about every body of water that we spent any time observing. This guy was in a little flooded, muddy ornamental pond outside a large hospital on a very busy main road.
Very cool animals and obviously very adaptive. Surprisingly fast runners and very graceful swimmers. They're carnivorous, often dining on on the remains of unfortunate animals or discarded scraps of meat, and they also pursue live prey. We saw a few leave the water with still-flopping fish, and I saw one near this location (maybe the same individual) make a quick grab for an inattentive pigeon. He only managed to a mouthful of feathers, and the pigeon left the area with great haste.
These lizards are usually pretty skittish, not too easy to approach very closely. I watched this one slide from the grass bank down to the edge of the pond, then sat down and waited just in case he came back up. He did crawl back up, and I guess he didn't see me until I clicked the shutter. This is a nearly uncropped shot, (but at 300mm, so I wasn't too close).