As Spring approaches the Great White North (dare I mention it, with the 2010 Winter Olympics just over a week away!), Summer is in FULL SIZZLE Down Under, with not a hint of Autumn relief anywhere on our blazing horizon.
The boys are safely back at school in airconditioned bliss. This was the assembly to officially welcome in the school year. Can you see my boys?!:)
The Secondary school always kicks off the year with its annual Swim Meet. Something akin to ‘throwing the kids in the deep end….’ Otherwise known as ‘sink or swim’. I think I should leave the analogies there.
I was quite pleasantly surprised at how many staff took part in the swim meet, alongwith the students. It added to the fun of the occasion! As an aside, I can’t quite reconcile seeing teachers in their swimming togs, and then seeing them in their teaching clothes…But I digress. Again.
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The local wildlife is enjoying summer too….and our pool. On hot days, it feels a bit like we are providing a public pool service to the local lizard population!
The other day, our resident blue tongue lizard had a bit of a fright. He was in our pool taking a leisurely paddle around to cool off, when a bunch of exuberant boys jumped into our pool. It gave him SUCH a fright that he unfortunately left some ‘deposits’ at the bottom of our pool. The boys who had not expected to share the pool with any wildlife other than themselves, were excited and GROSSED OUT all at the same time. It’s amazing what pool filters can be used to suction up! As for the blue tongue, he vamoosed to quieter pastures. Lucky thing!
This is a new resident on our property. Jan/Feb is about the right time for lizard eggs to hatch. LENNY, is a very friendly baby Water Dragon Lizard. He lives under the kids’ pool toys and he loves to come out and investigate whenever there is anything happening on the back patio. Basically, he’s nosey. Dragon Lizards have a distinctive perky, upright position that makes them look very engaging….kinda. They are well known to become quickly accustomed to human company. This one is definitely unafraid of us!
At the moment, Lenny is only about 15cms long, and the spines on his back are still forming. At maturity, I think he’ll be much less cute, since he could grow to be about 100cm long. That is assuming, of course, that Lenny is a ‘he’ and not a ‘Lena’ ! Females are a little smaller.
Dragon Lizards are very good climbers with their claws and powerful bodies. They can stay submerged for an hour, though I do wonder about whether the chemicals in domestic pools, aid or decrease their longevity! They are omnivores, and I’m sure hanging around humans is quite advantageous for supplementing their diet! Apparently you can train them to eat out of your hand, but unfortunately for Lenny, he's going to have to be self sufficient.
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That was in our backyard – where all the fun happens. At the front of our place, we have a busy (& well fed) Golden Orb Spider. I know nothing about Golden Orb Spiders except that this guy/gal has spun a huge web that catches the sunlight beautifully. From the size of it, I’m sure he/she catches much more than sunlight…
Wonderful way to greet any arachnophobic visitors…
Still wanna come and visit???
2 comments:
Gross about the lizard poops....you certainly are goo at photographin the wildlife (other than your children and your husband)
Great pictures of your wildlife Ange, how cool is it to have your own blue-tongue! By the way I was in that picture in Assembly, did you see me?
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