The Indian Monitor, I think its called. Its one of those ancient survivors - the species dates back several million years, I read somewhere. Around three feet long I would estimate that the one we saw were. I think thats the average size of this variety.
All the ones we came across were solitary, and thats how adult males seem to hang out. Not fond of company it would appear!
After a while, this one got a bit annoyed and irritated with all the clicking and commotion and kind of walked off in a huff, into the bushes! Its walk is clumsy and deliberate, and a sitting target I would imagine for poachers and hunters. The eat all kinds of other insects and small creatures like frogs. I do wonder if they form the food for some other creature. I think their young are vulnerable to being eaten by larger birds and such, but I cant imagine anything wanting to eat one of these adults - would be terribly leathery dont you think?!
Sripad got a good shot of its head. See, its smiling for the camera - or is it a grimace?!
Photo by Sripad
This one is a hundred years old, perhaps. I guess their only defense against poachers and such is the fact that they blend quite well into their surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI had actually gone through this article earlier as I had kinda trawled through your blog! However, thanks for making me re-visit this article and see them all over again, I like monitors as you may have gathered!
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