Encountering a Wild Lace Monitor

When we began our trek to the beach at Cape Tribulation in Queensland, Australia, we hoped to see wildlife among the exotic foliage. Butterflies were varied and numerous. A chorus of forest birds called out all around us. 

In the dim forest light, spotting this rufous night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) was exciting. This was the wildlife we expected. Amazing how similar it was in appearance and behavior to the black-crowned night heron we frequently see in the Los Angeles area.

But our thrill came when a rustle in the mangrove leaves revealed a 5-foot-long lace monitor (Varanus varius). Monitor lizards are primarily predators, hunting birds, small mammals and other reptiles. Some species also eat insects and crustaceans. The lace monitor is the second largest monitor species in Australia, and Australia is the land of lizards. In a country where most of the marsupial predators have become extinct, monitors are important mesopredators (predators of small prey).

 
Southern California's equivalent mesopredators would be the gray fox, island fox, coyote, bobcat, and red-tailed hawk. Predators are much fewer in an ecosystem than prey species, making the sighting of one an unexpected pleasure. However, like our mesopredators, lace monitors are adaptable and with the decrease or extinction of large predators, mesopredator populations increase. The more resourceful species can sometimes get in trouble frequenting campgrounds and picnic areas, or even cities, where people create an opportunity for food. While this lace monitor might scavenge in the near-by park, we watched it exhibiting natural behaviors–using its forked tongue and Jacobson's organ to sense for food and other monitors. Watch the Video at TheEarthMinute.com

Monitor lizards have a deeply forked tongue like a snake and a keen chemosensory ability. As solitary creatures, they use this sense to communicate with others of their species. We watched this lace monitor mark its territory by rubbing glands, on the head and near the cloaca, on a tree trunk. Another lace monitor traveling this trail would be able to tell the gender, size, and probable health and mating status of this monitor from its scent marking. 

This behavior is very similar to that of wild felines, which also mark territory with chemical scents. (Your cat is actually marking you as its territory when it rubs its cheeks against your leg. Watch the lace monitor video and see if it doesn't remind you of your cat.) In Australia and Indonesia where there are no wild feline species, monitors are large lizards that fill the same niche. They are able predators, moving rapidly, tracking prey, climbing trees, and living in a variety of habitats.

In North America, our largest lizards are fairly small (under 2 ft or 70 cm, snout to tail tip) and the second largest, the chuckwalla is primarily herbivorous. There is no niche for a large predatory lizard because we have wild felines, bobcats, mountain lions, lynx, and the occasional ocelot or jaguar. I've only seen local bobcats on rare occasion and only felt the watching eyes of a mountain lion. Seeing this lace monitor was a reminder of the importance of predators in a healthy ecosystem and how special it is to see a mesopredator in the wild, especially when you are just taking a walk to the beach.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia

Wild Lizards of Australia

skink in tree at Mossman Gorge, QLD

I've just returned from Australia where we were fortunate not only to see over 185 species of birds, but we also saw at least one new species of lizard every day.

Skinks were everywhere, from the hillsides of Sidney's suburbs to the remote forests of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territories. Skinks are the most numerous family of lizards in the world.  

We saw copperhead skinks, arboreal skink species, and tiny little species only a few inches long. At the other end of the spectrum we saw a large female lace monitor about 4 foot long.  Lizards were everywhere. Enjoying them as wild creatures was magical.

wild lace monitor

Yet many of these lizards - water dragons, skinks, geckos and monitor lizards - are heavily sought for the pet trade.  People just do not realize the important jobs these animals have to do in their habitats. None of these creatures can complete the role they were meant to fulfill if they are taken from the wild and kept in a cage.

The illegal pet trade is a black market that robs wild places of their residents and destroys ecosystems around the world. Unfortunately, the United States is one of the largest participants in this devastating trade.

gecko catching insects on the wall of our hotel

Enjoy your wild neighbors and don't rob other places in the world of their wild residents - lizards, fish, birds, amphibians or mammals. Become informed about the pet trade and how it impacts wild populations. Check out a post by my friend Sandra Cruze on the black market pet trade.

If you want to experience wild animals, create native habitat where animals live naturally of their own free will. I have a snake, two lizard species, various spiders and over 76 species of birds that visit the natural habitat in my yard. Value your wild neighbors, don't be a wildlife kidnapper and destroyer.