This is one piece I’ve been wanting to write for a while, but I thought I’d wait until I was totally sure the blue tongue lizards were back for the summer.
Today I was driving along Ryde Road at Gordon and I noticed a blue tongue lizard on the road. I wasn’t sure if it was alive and trying to cross the road or if it had already been hit. Unfortunately I was surrounded by a lot of fast moving traffic and there was no way for me to stop and see what was happening. I just had to keep driving. To get to where it was it had already made it across 3 lanes of traffic from the other side of the road without getting hit which I found absolutely amazing.
The situation I’ve just mentioned is difficult, but when you’re driving along quieter suburban roads where it is easy to avoid hitting them now is the time to be vigilant. From a distance their grey colour and low profile can make them hard to spot. They blend in with the road and sometimes you don’t know they’re there until your right in front of one. This means you must take extra care when driving.
If you do find one on the road that looks like it’s in danger and you want to move it off the road, don’t try picking it up. Even though I’ve read that they don’t normally bite I wouldn’t like to risk being bitten. I usually just walk behind them and keep them moving towards the footpath. Most of the time they’re quite cooperative, but I’ve encountered a few who want to turn around and snarl at me and show off their blue tongue. It’s a defence tactic and it never deters me. I always remain totally committed to my rescue mission and my snappy friend always finds its way to safety even though it doesn’t appreciate my concern for its wellbeing. Remember that if you are going to spend time on the road don’t forget to take care of your own safety.
There have been a couple of occasions where I’ve had to take a lizard to the vet due to injuries it’s sustained from being hit by a car. One was alright, but the other one had to be euthanaised. I always keep a towel or blanket in the car just in case I have to pick up an injured animal. As this seems to be happening more often I’ve also taken to having a cat carrier in the back of the car as well.
I’ve had plenty of successes, but there was one lizard who didn’t want to stay out of trouble. I moved this one away from the road on about four occasions, but sadly one day when I was passing the area where it had been I saw that it had been run over.
Apart from cars, another threat to blue tongues are cats and dogs. I know of one household where the family dog loves attacking blue tongues and it never gets into trouble. My dog loves harassing the lizard that visits our yard (I think we might even have two lizards) and unlike the dog just mentioned mine never gets away with it!
Also be careful when you’re mowing the lawn. I almost ran over one, and once again it was a case of the lizard being hard to spot. Luckily the lizard moved away just in time, and I learned an important lesson.
I must admit that I do find them horrible to look at, but I’m always pleased to have one in my yard. They seem to take care of my snail and slug problem plus a few other things as well. I just have to remember not to use snail bait because it’s harmful to lizards. My lizard/s always return every year and it’s probably because I have an untidy yard with a wide variety of plants. I hate highly manicured gardens which only have about 3 plant species and the rest of the garden is so neat and tidy that it deters any wildlife from visiting. In my untidy yard I’ve created an entire ecosystem without going out of my way to do so. There are plenty of good hiding places and plenty of food, and not only do I have my lizards, but I also see a lot of other animals as well.
Today I was driving along Ryde Road at Gordon and I noticed a blue tongue lizard on the road. I wasn’t sure if it was alive and trying to cross the road or if it had already been hit. Unfortunately I was surrounded by a lot of fast moving traffic and there was no way for me to stop and see what was happening. I just had to keep driving. To get to where it was it had already made it across 3 lanes of traffic from the other side of the road without getting hit which I found absolutely amazing.
The situation I’ve just mentioned is difficult, but when you’re driving along quieter suburban roads where it is easy to avoid hitting them now is the time to be vigilant. From a distance their grey colour and low profile can make them hard to spot. They blend in with the road and sometimes you don’t know they’re there until your right in front of one. This means you must take extra care when driving.
If you do find one on the road that looks like it’s in danger and you want to move it off the road, don’t try picking it up. Even though I’ve read that they don’t normally bite I wouldn’t like to risk being bitten. I usually just walk behind them and keep them moving towards the footpath. Most of the time they’re quite cooperative, but I’ve encountered a few who want to turn around and snarl at me and show off their blue tongue. It’s a defence tactic and it never deters me. I always remain totally committed to my rescue mission and my snappy friend always finds its way to safety even though it doesn’t appreciate my concern for its wellbeing. Remember that if you are going to spend time on the road don’t forget to take care of your own safety.
There have been a couple of occasions where I’ve had to take a lizard to the vet due to injuries it’s sustained from being hit by a car. One was alright, but the other one had to be euthanaised. I always keep a towel or blanket in the car just in case I have to pick up an injured animal. As this seems to be happening more often I’ve also taken to having a cat carrier in the back of the car as well.
I’ve had plenty of successes, but there was one lizard who didn’t want to stay out of trouble. I moved this one away from the road on about four occasions, but sadly one day when I was passing the area where it had been I saw that it had been run over.
Apart from cars, another threat to blue tongues are cats and dogs. I know of one household where the family dog loves attacking blue tongues and it never gets into trouble. My dog loves harassing the lizard that visits our yard (I think we might even have two lizards) and unlike the dog just mentioned mine never gets away with it!
Also be careful when you’re mowing the lawn. I almost ran over one, and once again it was a case of the lizard being hard to spot. Luckily the lizard moved away just in time, and I learned an important lesson.
I must admit that I do find them horrible to look at, but I’m always pleased to have one in my yard. They seem to take care of my snail and slug problem plus a few other things as well. I just have to remember not to use snail bait because it’s harmful to lizards. My lizard/s always return every year and it’s probably because I have an untidy yard with a wide variety of plants. I hate highly manicured gardens which only have about 3 plant species and the rest of the garden is so neat and tidy that it deters any wildlife from visiting. In my untidy yard I’ve created an entire ecosystem without going out of my way to do so. There are plenty of good hiding places and plenty of food, and not only do I have my lizards, but I also see a lot of other animals as well.