Today I spotted a Lace Monitor Lizard (Varanus varius) on the hunt for duck's eggs.

Wow !

Its quite big lovely markings you captured it well.

What a wonderful sight

Now if we saw that wandering around over here on the loose, we'd all be petrified.... he's rather lovely though.

Wow was this taken in your garden scary

the last time i saw one of those was in my back garden when i lived in western australia the swan river ran at the bottom of my garden great photo

They're venomous aren't they Bernieh?

Bernie, are the ducks wild or your pets ?

Hi Bill100 - the monitors are a pretty common sight all over Oz really ... except for larger city areas maybe. We see one or two every year out here ... being so close to the bushland. Sounds like you had a lovely place in WA - right on the Swan ... how lucky were you!

Ponty - I think they have a small amount of venom like snakes but I've never heard of anyone dying from a monitor bite. However I would not like to be bitten by these creatures - they have enormous sharp teeth and they're pretty aggressive if their nest is nearby or they feel threatened.

Louise - the ducks are ours ... that stone pathway you see in the photo above leads to the chook/duck run and that was the area this beauty was trying to get into.

Love your pictures Bernieh. There's always something new to marvel at :-)))

He is beautiful! I'm kind of glad it's not in my garden though, I'm a bit of a scaredy cat!! :-)

Great pictures Bernieh. It looks like he is doesn't move particularly quickly, but that he doesn't let things get in his way if he wants to go somewhere.

Claireinbude - looks are deceptive in this case. While he looks like a lumbering type of creature believe me they can move when they want to! I've seen them climb a tall eucalypt in no time at all when they feel threatened.

I think I'll stay out of his way!

Well, I'm in my place. I've been moaning on about 3/2" Leatherjackets and then you show me these wee beauties. But they probably don't eat the grass, just the gardeners. Come to think of it, my grass would probably be better off without my efforts. So, no more me, no more nematodes, no more Suffolk Punch (my fav toy) striping the grass, just release the Dragons. But then again this is Scotland, they would eventually take a scunner and migrate to London, where they would of course meet lots of fellow Australians, but would they be happy?

Ha ... enjoyed your comment Scunnered. No unfortunately these beauties wouldn't eat your grass ... just any insects, birds or birds' eggs that might be lurking under all that lush grass of yours.