A very concerned lady rang one day. She had found a lizard in her garden (not usually a cause for concern) but she thought this one had been burned somehow, and escaped with its injuries. It looks a bit like a blue tongue lizard, she said, but….but it’s black! And all its scales are …… raised up! Hmmm thought I, putting on my thinking cap. She continued, When I saw it, I got a box and put over it, so it wouldn’t get hurt, and it kept on going, with the box over the top of it! Hmmm I thought again, this doesn’t sound like an injured lizard to me….much too active. I asked was it still in the garden? She replied, no, I got it inside a box and brought it in. I don’t think it’s very happy….it keeps hissing at me. Gawd thought I, I hope this IS a lizard, and not a flipping snake!
So I drove round to her place, and she was waiting at the front gate, in a dither. I think she thought it might jump out of the box and leap on her, knock her down and murder her. She practically dragged me into the house, and showed me the box, in state on the dining room table. I wasn’t sure what I was going to find, and had brought a towel with me. I was hoping I wasn’t going to find a snake, and towels are pretty handy with just about everything else. I gently opened the box. Thank goodness, it definitely wasn’t a snake, I saw legs. But there, glaring at me, and sticking out its tongue, and hissing at me…..was a shingleback lizard.
I told her it appeared quite healthy, and it wasn’t injured. But..but…it’s burnt! No, I said, it looks like it is, but thats the way it’s meant to look. It’s a type of blue tongue lizard, but these ones are called shinglebacked lizards, because of the shape of the scales. It’s not hurt then, she asked? No, it looks perfectly healthy to me. Are you happy for me to put it back in your garden? They love to eat snails and things like that. Oh she said, it won’t hurt me? They’re not poisonous are they??
I smiled to myself….this lady who had showed so much bravery in “rescuing” what she thought was an injured animal without a thought had lost all her courage; in fact probably had lost it as soon as she had it safely in the box. Getting the lizard in the box was no mean feat – they have no teeth, and can’t inflict any serious injury, but their gums can bruise you, and they do a pretty good job of looking terrifying, puffing out their sides, opening their mouths wide and poking out their awesome blue tongues, and hissing!
I assured her that no, it wasn’t poisonous, and once in the garden, it definitely wouldn’t harm her, and would probably take to its heels if disturbed.
While I don’t think you could exactly call shinglebacks monogamous in lifestyle, as they live alone, they keep returning to the same mate every breeding season. Typical of all lizards, they love to bask in the sun, and rarely appear during the winter months. Spring is their breeding season, and the female gives birth to live young. They’re generally fairly big babies, and usually, she only gives birth to two. Might be just as well…..seeing their size…..
So we took said shingleback into her garden, up the backyard, where he could find places to hide when he wasn’t feeling adventurous. Having got over the shock of it, the lady quite liked the idea of having her own snail eater in the garden, and I felt quite sure, if he decided to stay put, he would have a safe haven there.
Mamaroo's Diary 