Harry Potter the Goanna

Everything Else
#1

Thought you might be interested to see our little friend ‘Harry Potter’.

It is a young adult (only ~1m long) Goanna (or Lace Monitor Lizard).

We have named it Harry Potter because it hibernates during winter under our house in a location almost directly under the stairs. During summer it ranges across the steep slope behind our house often climbing trees to raid bird nests - thus far the Kookaburra have managed to keep it away from their nest hole.

Here it was probably going under the house in search of one of our cats to ‘play’ with

23 Likes
#2

OMG…MOVE!!! Don’t bother to pack, just grab the kids and pets and RUN!!!

Just kidding, though he DID creep me out, bless his heart :wink:

5 Likes
#3

When I was younger I used to watch “In the Wild with Harry Butler”. When he would swim around with the Goannas, I thought he was saying Iguana with his Australian accent.

3 Likes
#4

LOL, nah, they are pretty peaceful and do a great job of scaring mice and rats away.
Even more importantly snakes HATE them so i am doing all i can to make sure it is nice and comfortable.

We have a Bush Turkey nest nearby too… and Goanna love to eat their eggs which help keep the little feral things under control

(The face of a creature only its father could love)

Bush Turkey
Bush Turkey.jpg1173×852 1.16 MB

WOW! Did you guys get that show there? That is really going back. Man, with the accent and locations he went you must have thought we were from another planet.

A comedian had a successful run mimicking those shows under the name of ‘Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures’. They are all on Youtube i think

7 Likes
#5

Wow, what a neat critter! Nothing like that up here in Seattle, that is for sure.

1 Like
#6

I would rename it from Harry Potter to Godzilla. How big is it??

2 Likes
#7

I would not disparage Seattle. I used to live on Whidbey Island and loved seeing the Otters and Orca pods. Our land there still has a gorgeous Owl and a regular Bald Eagle visitor. And because i am not a native i quite enjoyed seeing Deer and Coyote too (but i can understand why they are pest to most)

Only a young adult, so about a metre long.
I have seen a larger adult and that was close to 2 metre long - THAT one i gave a lot of space to!

3 Likes
#8

We also have a Lyrebird who visits regularly… but never when Harry is around.

Lyrebird
Lyrebird.jpg1208×827 1.36 MB

I can always tell when the Lyre Bird is close because it makes the strangest sounds, it is an incredible mimic

6 Likes
#9

Oh, we have some neat wildlife… But I miss reptiles. I grew up in SoCal and while we didn’t have monitor lizards we still had some neat herps. Here in Seattle, I see any kind of wild reptile about once every 2-3 years…

1 Like
#10

26992507_10156714501469298_2502708872506668652_n.jpg960×685 63.1 KB

Not my picture - but this was taken a few miles from me. We haz kitty kats :slight_smile:

12 Likes
#11

Ah, gotcha… yeah, hardly reptile climate up there!

I love reptiles, as i type this i can see a heap of skinks playing on the rocks outside my window. We have Blue Tongues and Eastern Water Dragons which are very cool to look at.

This little Broad-tailed Gecko lives behind our sauna and eats any bugs that are stupid enough to come close.

Gecko

Is that a Cougar?
I AM jealous, they are beautiful… and this is the sort of thing Australia lacks… large mammals (outside of Kangaroo obviously)

4 Likes
#12

Bobcat. We also have bears, coyotes, foxes, etc. Tennessee :heart:

3 Likes
#13

That first look at the Goanna was a reminder of our space invaders (invading our space) only yours has legs. I have not seen one yet but then I don’t get about much. I can’t imagine a bush turkey overpopulating the place unless they are not as tasty as our chickens and turkeys.

I would much rather have problems with things edible than something like sewer vine that is annoying just to walk past.

1 Like
#14

It is illegal to kill Bush Turkeys

All native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals (except the dingo) are protected in NSW by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

Fun fact: It is illegal to kill a snake, even a lethal one (Brown Snakes… looking at you)

3 Likes
#15

That lizard is a handsome fellow. The flicking tongue is an interesting evolutionary adaptation, the split tip gives them a stereoscopic sense of smell/taste, for a directional clue.

I was stationed at Whidbey, and have many fond memories, the telephone pole sized driftwood piled up that covered west beach, and the woods with the moss covered fern lined paths, and an old growth cedar in Deception Pass park that had to be 7 feet in diameter, all burned into memory. Beautiful country.

3 Likes
#16

What the… I only have Birds, Raccoons and Friendly Neighbour Cats in my backyard…

2 Likes
#17

When I lived in South Seattle, I had chickens and a duck that visited me from my neighbor’s yard, but now in Ohio, we’ve got city deer and aggressive turkeys that prevent mail delivery! :joy:

Walking home from the bus after work, I saw this lady enjoying the grass and fallen leaves - and likely some veggies from a neighboring yard:

IMAG1706
IMAG1706.jpg1329×751 243 KB

6 Likes
#18

Thanksgiving? smiling_imp

2 Likes
#19

I think the problem started after :us: Thanksgiving (vs :canada: Thanksgiving), so possibly Thanksgiving :turkey: :plate_with_cutlery: revenge?

5 Likes
#20

Hmm it seems like someone would make a commercial go at Bush Turkeys, We had them here till 2008 but I haven’t seen one since. However we do eat a lot of Ground Turkey. :slight_smile: