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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.
A lovely encounter with a monitor lizard on the banks of the river in Gorongosa.
#wildcamp #gorongosa #gorongosanationalpark #M#wildcamp #gorongosa #gorongosanationalpark #M#gorongosaozambique
#monitorlizard #reptilesofinstagram
#endangeredspecies #wildography #wildlifepics #wildgeography #africanamazing #natgeoafrica #instaafrica #africansafari #africanwildlife #amazingafrica #wildlifeconservation #pictussafaris
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.
May 20, 2017
This water beetle skating around low on the water's surface reminded me of images I had seen of early iron-clad warships of the US Civil War, Monitor and Merrimack.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2017
All Rights Reserved
...always learning - critiques welcome.
Shot with a Canon 7D.
No use without permission.
Please email for usage info.
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.
It did seem a good idea, good weather forecast, train down to Bristol, spend a few hours with some good mates, get a couple of Westerns, what could possibly go wrong?
Fog, that is what went wrong, above the fog the sky was cloudless but at platform level every time it started to lift another wave rolled in. Western's? One, 1063 Western Monitor crawls off Bath Road and disappears into the fog. Why did I photograph it, pure desperation, plus the fact that Monitor was a fairly rare one.
The sting in the tail? When I got home my wife was at her mothers house in Acocks Green, her bus stop was on the railway station bridge...I've seen a Western* she chirped when I collected her, it just went under the bridge as I was getting off the bus, she then added, I hope you had a good day it has been lovely here. Spitting tacks I was!
D1063 was built at Crewe works, it entered service at at Old Oak Common 17/05/1963. It was withdrawn 04/04/1976 and cut at Swindon 31/08/1977
Copyright Geoff Dowling 04/10/1975
Monitor Desert - Varan du désert
Series on white background
Spotted a Bengal monitor or common Indian monitor (Varanus bengalensis), by it's den.
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Please do not use this photo on any websites or for personal use.
Thank you.
©2017 Fantommst
A swirling Eastern Pacific Ocean storm system headed for California was spotted by NOAA's GOES-West satellite on February 28. According to the National Weather Service, this storm system has the potential to bring heavy rainfall to the drought-stricken state.
The storm was captured using visible data from NOAA's GOES-West or GOES-15 satellite on Feb. 28 at 1915 UTC/11:15 a.m. PST was made into an image by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The storm's center appeared as a tight swirl, with bands of clouds and showers already sweeping over the state extending from northern California to Baja California, Mexico.
At 11:30 a.m. PST on February 28, Bill Patzert, climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. said, "Right now from northern to southern California we are being battered by very heavy rain, strong winds and our coastal communities are being battered by high surf. Through the weekend we are bracing for mud and rock slides in areas that recently burned [from wildfires]. Flooding is looming up and down the state."
The National Weather Service (NWS) serving Los Angeles posted a Flood Watch for the region on Friday, February 28. The Flood Watch notes the "potential for flash flooding and debris flows for some 2013 and 2014 burn areas in Los Angeles County from this morning through Saturday evening (March 1).”
The NWS Flood Watch also noted "a very strong and dynamic storm will bring a significant amount of rain to much of southwestern California through Saturday evening. A flash flood watch has been issued for several recent burn areas in Los Angeles County due to the abundant rainfall expected. Rain rates at times are expected to range from a half inch to one inch per hour which could cause significant mud and debris flows. There will be a chance of thunderstorms with locally higher rainfall rates."
"Californians haven't seen rain and wind this powerful in 3 years," Patzert said. "By early next week, as this system moves east, this powerful system will wreak havoc causing snow and ice storms through the Midwest into the Northeast."
GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes.
On a positive note, Patzert noted, "This is a nice down payment on drought recovery in the parched Western U.S."
For updated information about the storm system, visit NOAA's National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov
For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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The Bengal monitor (Varanus bengalensis) or common Indian monitor, is a monitor lizard found widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial, and its length can range from about 61 to 175 cm from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. Young monitors may be more arboreal, but adults mainly hunt on the ground, preying mainly on arthropods, but also taking small terrestrial vertebrates, ground birds, eggs and fish.
"Varanus bengalensis is mainly found in the lowland dry zone of the Sri Lanka, but reaches elevations of ca. 500m. It is one of the most widely distributed of the living varanids. It inhabit a large range of habitats ranging from arid desert fringes to rainforests, but is most common in farmlands (particularly the coconut plantations) and dry, open forests. Land monitors reach a maximum snout to vent length of about 140 cm in Sri Lanka and large specimens can weigh over 10 kg. Land monitors spend the nights in burrows, where their body temperature decreases. The following morning they must raise their body temperatures by basking before commencing activity, hence they are rarely active early in the morning. Younger Land monitors frequent the vicinity of rivers, and that adults are found in drier forest, scrublands and grasslands unlike the water monitors which do not usually venture far from the water. They are excellent climbers. Even large adults can ascend vertical tree trunks with ease, and they are reported to be agile enough to stalk and capture even roosting bats. Despite their large size, these lizards get most of their nutrition from tiny prey and feed mainly on beetles, grubs, orthopterans, scorpions, snails, ants and other small invertebrates, which are consumed in enormous numbers. Hence they are important biological controllers of agricultural pests."-http://www.srilankanreptiles.com/TetrapodReptiles/Varanidae.html
M-monitoring what?? I sometimes worry if they're planning against humanity,
Small screens are from here
He looks a bit like a whale if you only see the head in profile but it's a monitor lizard, an African rock monitor. These animals are huge, males reach a length up to 2 meters (6ft 7in), and quite heavy too (5-8 kg / 7-18 lb). I enjoyed watching them because they seemed to react to my presence at their enclosure, most other reptiles simply don't care.
I add another capture in the comments. It shows the claws of the rock monitor which he uses to climb or to defend himself.
Both photos were taken through glass.
Adult
Fear may very well be a caveman fear of the predator, of the giant lizard chasing them - maybe that's what Steven Spielberg connects with so well in Lost World. Oliver Stone
I know how that feels . I was chased by it
The Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator), also called common water monitor, is a large varanid lizard native to South and Southeast Asia. It is one of the most common monitor lizards in Asia, ranging from Sri Lanka and coastal northeast India to Indochina, Malay Peninsula, and Indonesian islands where it lives close to water. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The Asian water monitor is also called Malayan water monitor, common water monitor, two-banded monitor, rice lizard, ring lizard, plain lizard and no-mark lizard, as well as simply water monitor. The local name in Sri Lanka is kabaragoya, denoting a subspecies with distinct morphological features. The Asian water monitor is widely distributed from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Chinese Guangxi and Hainan provinces, Malaysia, Singapore to the Sunda islands Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo and Sulawesi. It inhabits primarily lowland freshwater and brackish wetlands. It has been recorded up to an altitude of 1,800 m. Asian water monitors are semiaquatic and opportunistic; they inhabit a variety of natural habitats though predominantly this species resides in primary forests and mangrove swamps. It has been noted that these monitors are not deterred from living in areas of human disturbance. In fact, they have been known to adapt and thrive in agricultural areas as well as cities with canal systems (such as in Sri Lanka, where they are not hunted or persecuted by humans). This species does not thrive in habitats with extensive loss of natural vegetation and aquatic resources. Habitats that are considered to be most important to this species are mangrove vegetation, swamps, wetlands, and altitudes below 1000 meters. 16135