G for

G for Goanna

Ah, now this lizard is a little beauty. There wouldn't be many Aussies who hadn't had a picnic interrupted by a hungry Goanna.

Like a lot of our native animals, the Goanna is big. To see one around 2 metres long isn't unusual.

A couple of things about them are that they can climb trees, run like the wind and have a fantastic sense of smell.

Goannas will hunt for food, they are a carnivorous predator so small mammals, birds & eggs are on the menu as are other lizards and even snakes. But when they are around an area populated by us humans they also get a taste for food waste and have been known to raid garbage bins and harass those of us who enjoy al fresco dining. While they are not aggressive per se, they can really really hurt you if you corner one or get in the way of a goanna on a mission. So keeping this in mind, the one thing you do not do when confronted with a 2 metre goanna is refuse to be hospitable, they have feet that are as big as a human hand and claws that they sharpen every day on the odd gum tree and they arent afraid to use them to climb up the nearest leg in order to obtain easy prey (otherwise known as chicken sandwiches). Mainly they will just stare at you until you hand the goodies over. A goanna will give you about 1 minute to drop the food and then it will just come over and take it. The thing is not to startle them, bad things happen when a goanna is startled. Not many people will stand their ground against one of these critters either and the critter knows it.

A couple of years ago my husband and I were holidaying on the NSW south coast at a beachside bush caravan park in my familys' caravan. We were sitting outside eating our chicken and salad sandwiches and watching the kangaroos and their joeys grazing nearby when suddenly every single kangaroo sat up in alarm and then took off, leaving us both wondering what on earth could possibly have scared them so badly.

The answer was slowly walking up beneath the picnic bench we were sitting on having been drawn to the area by the sweet aroma of baked chook. My gaze was drawn to movement not 1/2 a metre from my feet as a head the size of a football flicked a forked tongue at me, I looked up to see if my husband had seen the goanna only to see a blur as my hubby threw his sandwich and his dignity into the air and took off in the direction of the van. Luckily for him the goanna was way more interested in the sandwich than in my hero who took flight.

Reluctently my chicken sandwich was also sacrificed so that I could slowly get up and back off until it was safe to turn and run. I made it to the van and shut the door in relief at the near escape. Goanna ate the sandwiches, licked up the spilled chicken, then turned and looked at us hiding behind the glass door of the van. I'm sure I saw a gleam of humour in his eye as he came on over and lay in the sun across the doorway and went to sleep.

We spent 3 hours trapped in that van, neither of us game to wake it up to move it. 

c'mon argue with this fellow!! Photo taken while taking refuge on top of a table