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Wild South Africa
Kruger National Park
The water monitor is one of the most striking members of the Reptile family and is second in size only to the Nile crocodile. Including the tail, large adults can reach lengths of up to nearly 2.5 meters. Its body is adorned with beautiful yellow patterning, aiding it to be well camouflaged in its preferred habitat close to bodies of water and reed beds. Although usually found close to water, these monitors are not water dependent and will actively forage for food on land, traveling large distances from water if need be. They are also capable of climbing trees but are usually found basking on riverbanks.
Teaching Art classes allows for all sorts of discussion about various artists, media and styles.
Today's subject was someone very familiar. The class was impressed with the emotion evoked through a few plastic bricks. Most agreed that it looked like a pretty sad robot.
This Lace Monitor is a new resident of our zoo. The species is native to Australia and they are the second largest monitors there. Lace Monitors reach a total length of about 2 m (7 ft) and a weight of about 14 kg (30 lb). I think they are beautiful animals and I will certainly try to take more photos of them in the near future.
El Monitor Huáscar, Museo Flotante en la Base Naval de Talcahuano, engalanado para el 21 de Mayo de 2018, cuando aún no se disipa el humo de las salvas de honor
Everyday, we have some Water monitor (Varanus salvator) coming to the staff canteen to get some scraps of food dropped (not always by accident) by the staff eating there. As they are used to our presence, they are easy enough to approach and observe. It took the opportunity today to capture a nice portrait of one of them, more than a meter long, that came very close. Of course, it wouldn't be the same without its tongue out.
A Gould's monitor at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida.
See a related video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r7g5mQntks
Mertens water monitor is a medium- to largesized (total length up to 1 m) semi-aquatic monitor, dark brown to black on the back with numerous small dark-edged cream or yellow spots. #D500
Monitor lizards look very much like the dragons that we see in fairy tale books. Of the 31 species in the world, four are from India: the Bengal monitor, the two-banded monitor, the desert monitor, and the yellow monitor lizard. All of the four are severely endangered species and are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. Which means anyone caught trapping or killing them can be punished with a fine of Rs. 25,000 and 5 years in jail. But it would seem that no one cares.
These useful jungle creatures that should live to 15 years very rarely even attain sexual maturity at the age of 3. This is because their meat and eggs are eaten and their body parts used for all sorts of fake remedies. The animals are hunted down, their spines or legs broken and they are then thrown into sacks and taken to villages and cities where they are kept alive in dreadful pain until the trader finds a gullible customer who will buy their sweat, organs, fat, or bones for aphrodisiacs, medicines, or amulets. So many ignorant people are sold parts of this creature in the false belief that it will cure some disease or the other. Many of you might have seen this helpless creature being roasted by madaris in the markets of your town.
The tongue of the live monitor is cut to be swallowed in the ridiculous hope that it will cure tuberculosis. The blood is drunk from its slit belly for asthma, its fat, to be rubbed on eyelids, is sold as a cure for failing sight or else rubbed onto wounds in the belief that it will heal them. Its head, cut off and burnt, is claimed to remedy every disease. It penis is used by Tantriks for black magic. Its flesh it touted as an aphrodisiac. Nor do we spare its young. The babies are steeped in alcohol and drunk to increase male potency. Even the eggs are considered a delicacy and cooked.
Nor is this the end of the list of horrors we heap on this reclusive creature. What do you think your lizard skin bags, wallets, and shoes are made of? The skins of these poor animals. In some parts of India, drums and the chambers of stringed instruments are made with their skins. During the Nagpanchami festival they are dug out of their resting places, nailed to poles, and carried in processions until they die.
There is no end to the torture we put these small vulnerable creatures to, because none of you ever protests.
Monitors are anything but primitive dragon like creatures. They are an extraordinary, versatile, hardy family of lizards that are good runners, diggers, climbers, and swimmers and are both tree and cave dwellers. They are a vital part of the ecosystem that keeps you alive and to kill them or to ignore those who carry on this trade is to endanger your own lives. They could live in peace if we let them. But it seems as if we Indians have decided to destroy another species for our false beliefs, superstitions, and passing fancies. Don’t buy lizard skin in any form, and catch lizard sellers when they enter your town and take them to the police. There are too few of these creatures left to take any more chances with their lives.
I was looking for a more elegant/delicate pedestal for a monitor/TV, because I didn't like the ones I had and came up with these ideas.
Monitor lizards have a massive body and powerful legs. Most species have strong claws on their feet, and all but the largest monitors can climb well. The tail is long and powerful, usually about twice as long as the body, and can be flailed as a potent weapon. Monitors grow throughout their life, so the oldest individuals in a population are also the largest ones.
Monitors have a long, specialized tongue with a bifurcated tip that is highly sensitive to smell and taste. The tongue is extended to pick up scent chemicals, and is then retracted into the mouth where the scents are analyzed using an organ on the roof of the mouth.
Monitor lizards grow replacement teeth in the gaps between their mature teeth. They have at least 29 vertebrae above their hips. Nine of these are neck vertebrae, supporting the unusually long neck of these lizards. Their powerful jaws are hinged in the middle, allowing them to swallow large prey. The head of monitors is tapered, and there are distinct ear holes.
Monitors are active predators, hunting during the day. They stalk a wide range of animals and eat carrion and eggs as well. Monitors ingest their prey whole if it is small enough, but they can also dismember large prey items so they can be swallowed.
Monitors, like all lizards, are poikilothermic or “cold-blooded.” They are most energetic after they have been heated by the morning sun, since their muscles work much more efficiently and easily when they are warm. Monitors can run quickly to chase down prey. When doing so they lift their body and tail clear off the ground.
Monitors also swim well, and may seek water as a refuge when threatened. They can walk underwater, and can use their tongue to smell underwater.
When threatened, monitors can be formidably aggressive animals. They can inflict painful bites and scratches, and the largest species are capable of killing a human. However, monitors can be readily tamed in captivity.