Wild Monitor

[serpenttongue]

Depending on the bite it is less likely to be relocated and more likely to be put down, this is often seen as the easier option. The reasons you say it would be devastating for a lacie to be relocated also come into play as a reason to do this. I personally don't think it's right and I actually haven't heard of a case with a lacie, but it has happened with Kookaburras that have injured people when stealing their bbq so it's not to much of a stretch to be applied here.
.

In Ray Hoser's Smuggled-2 he mentions a lacie being shot dead by wildlife officers because it was seen scavenging from bins in a national park.

 

[mysnakesau]

you only live once..

Yes you might only live once, but what about other people that visit the area and don't feed them. They will be the ones to cop the raw end of the lacy's hungry attitude.

.....Does anyone know if lacies can suffer any ill effects from eating people food?

If sea gulls can thrive on hot chips, surely the free handouts from ppl couldn't hurt them. I am guilty of feeding wildlife, too, but what happens to them if people no longer visit the park? Those animals become dependent on the free feed and forgot to go look for the food they're meant to have.

A lacy running at me, to beat me to a sausage on the ground was enough to tell me it wasn't a good idea. I was feeding sausages to them when one walked straight past a piece. I thought he didn't see it so I went to pick it up and raced to it so quickly, I'd hate to think that I could have lost fingers we got to that piece of sausage at the same time.

its amazing what people cop things for on aps

I am sure the criticisers would think its great to feed wildlife, as much as you, but they are just concerned for your safety, letting you know to be aware of the dangers of feeding them - especially the likes of goannas, dogs, even the kangaroos have been known to pose threats to the visitor that won't feed them.

 

[Dukz13]

Yes you might only live once, but what about other people that visit the area and don't feed them. They will be the ones to cop the raw end of the lacy's hungry attitude.

Yea i was pretty silly posting that i was pretty relaxed about it all and thought who cares if someone feeds a lacey in the park and risks toes and fingers but in saying that crocdoc and a few of the others have brought up alot of legit arguments and i didn't really realize the overall consequences to not only the lacey but the other people using the park.... I was wrong but at the end of the day crocdoc and the others have now helped open up my eyes a little.

 

[mysnakesau]

......rangers are forced to relocate the animal. .......

Not only a danger to other people, but then the poor lizard is prone to die because it was placed on another's territory.

Ok, I just read crocdoc's comments and pictures of that skinny lacy due to eating the wrong foods. That is a good enough reason for me to say that our food isn't good for them. I hate seeing animals suffer. Had I seen that fella I would have attempted to catch him, take him home and fatten him up on food he should be eating, and let him go again.

I shouldn't have read this thread. I have a wild lacy in my care who was hit by a car. Is that the kind of injury to look forward to when he is fully recovered? Yay, something to look forward to.....not. Might ask Jamie or crocdoc for help to shift him, when he's ready. My fella is only little, but his jaws, tail and claws work as well as an adult.

........ (add bacterial soup from a carrion-eating, dirty bite to the physical damage caused by the teeth) ......?

I have put freshly thawed pinky rats in for my wild patient and they start to stink before he decides they are nice enough to eat.

 

[serpenttongue]

Ok, I just read crocdoc's comments and pictures of that skinny lacy due to eating the wrong foods. That is a good enough reason for me to say that our food isn't good for them. I hate seeing animals suffer. Had I seen that fella I would have attempted to catch him, take him home and fatten him up on food he should be eating, and let him go again.

It's not so much that our foods are bad for them, but rather the monitor will start eating foreign objects that smell of our food.

If you took that skinny one home, first you'd have to get it to the vet to see what has caused it's drop in weight, which is probably a foreign object causing an intestinal blockage.

 

[ingie]

I met a little boy a few weeks ago, about 5 or 6 years old. He told me he had been bitten on the tip of his finger by a baby lace monitor at a picnic. Through past experiences with people and food, this baby lacie was bold enough to let this kid go up to him with a bit of food, and he was lucky it was only the tip of his finger! He said it was the worst pain he had ever felt and he definitely would't be doing it again. The mum had NO idea such a cute little lizard could cause so much pain. It is easy for most people, who don't know about their ferocious feeding response and razor sharp teeth, to look at their big cute heads and think of them like big puppies that will come in and gently nibble a bit of food from your hand.

It is funny when people talk about how 'tame' a lace monitor is. Years ago a friend of mine told me how a guy sold his lacie that he had had for years. He was great with the animal and it was what you would call 'tame'. He could read it's behaviour and was able to pat it and hold it etc without drama. The new owner was a bit of a dick and was showing off with his new 'tame' pet in front of people, when the lacie ripped off his calf muscle. Then as a reflex he reached down with his hand, which got shredded to pieces also. This guy had to have many surgeries to get things sorted out and get feeling etc back to his hand and leg.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

In terms of physical injuries, there are very few, if any, native Australian animals which can do as much damage as a big monitor. They always look so placid when we see them at the zoo or wildlife park, but crank a hungry one up by offering food and the transformation is awesome. Their ability to slice flesh to the bone is unmatched by anything else in the bush.

Jamie

 

[GeckPhotographer]

I met a little boy a few weeks ago, about 5 or 6 years old. He told me he had been bitten on the tip of his finger by a baby lace monitor at a picnic. Through past experiences with people and food, this baby lacie was bold enough to let this kid go up to him with a bit of food, and he was lucky it was only the tip of his finger! He said it was the worst pain he had ever felt and he definitely would't be doing it again. The mum had NO idea such a cute little lizard could cause so much pain. It is easy for most people, who don't know about their ferocious feeding response and razor sharp teeth, to look at their big cute heads and think of them like big puppies that will come in and gently nibble a bit of food from your hand.

If you can tell me which park to find a baby lace monitor I will be there tomorrow. Baby Lacies usually spend a lot of their early years in trees making them incredibly hard to find, I've never seen one.

 

[mudgudgeon]

I'll count myself as lucky then. I've come across wild baby lacies quite a few times and been lucky enough to be able to watch them close up in the wild several times.

I have seen lacies be aggresive in picnic areas too, it annoys me to see people feed them, then get upset when they disrupt their picnic.

This thread is is bit of an eye opener though, I've always treated them with caution, but I won't be as relaxed next time one comes sniffing for food when my kids are around.

 

[KaotikJezta]

If you can tell me which park to find a baby lace monitor I will be there tomorrow. Baby Lacies usually spend a lot of their early years in trees making them incredibly hard to find, I've never seen one.

I used to live on a land rights claim on a headland at Urunga and lacies of all ages were a common thing to see, mind you they were very shy and took off up te nearest tree when approached so seeing a baby at a park would be fairly rare I would say.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

I have wild Lacies in my yard, would see anything from probably 0.5m - maybe approaching 1m SVL individuals but never babies. Really want to see a Baby one.

 

[crocdoc]

I think the problem here is the definition of 'baby'. A boy of five or six years of age isn't going to be the best judge of whether a monitor is a baby. Most adults refer to small adult lace monitors as 'babies' if there's a larger lace monitor nearby. Because I grew up overseas and still have an accent after 30 years here, people often love to tell me stories about lace monitors when they see me photographing them in the park. A common one is to explain that the random collection of monitors foraging is actually a nuclear family, with the largest lacie the father, the second largest the mother and the smallest the baby. Typically, the animals in question are all adult males, although I've seen a female in a picnic area a couple of times (very uncommon).

In all of the years I've been watching lace monitors, sightings of real babies are rare, unless you manage to catch them just as they're emerging from the nest. They're secretive and fast. This is the smallest I've seen, at a few weeks old with a SVL of 12-15cm. It was preoccupied with the king cricket it had just scored and completely ignored me.

I have wild Lacies in my yard, would see anything from probably 0.5m - maybe approaching 1m SVL individuals b

I think you'll find that the larger individuals have a SVL of around 60-65cm rather than a metre. The largest on record is around 75cm SVL and most of them are well short of that.

 

[ingie]

Yes I imagine by baby he meant not an actual baby, but say a 1-3 year old. Much smaller than full sized adults anyway.

 

[GeckPhotographer]

I think you'll find that the larger individuals have a SVL of around 60-65cm rather than a metre. The largest on record is around 75cm SVL and most of them are well short of that.

I'd trust you to be right, I certainly have not gone an measured them and am not great with lengths in my head. Certainly what I am talking about when I say baby is a hatchling right from the size you picture above up to maybe a 4 months old at most. btw that is a great picture.

 

[crocdoc]

Yes I imagine by baby he meant not an actual baby, but say a 1-3 year old. Much smaller than full sized adults anyway.

Knowing what the general public are like when it comes to reptile identification, there's even a chance it was a water dragon rather than a monitor. That would explain the bite being described as painful rather than bleeding all over the place (which would impress heavily on the mind of a 5-6 year old and be the first thing they'd mention).

Thanks, Geck! That shot was taken on transparency, remember those? haha

The smallest lace monitor I've seen foraging in a picnic area was this animal. It was around a metre or so long.

Here it is with an adult male of around 1.7m in the background

and being chased by a brush turkey

The interesting thing is that I saw the very same animal two years later, in the same picnic area, and it hadn't grown at all. I'm pretty sure it's an adult female. Here it is in 2009

and in 2011. Compare the markings.

It's head shape is somewhere between a male and a female, but the overall build and the fact it's still the same size two years later suggests it's a small adult female.

 

[ingie]

Knowing what the general public are like when it comes to reptile identification, there's even a chance it was a water dragon rather than a monitor. That would explain the bite being described as painful rather than bleeding all over the place (which would impress heavily on the mind of a 5-6 year old and be the first thing they'd mention).

Good point! I have no idea how good their reptile identification skills are although we were looking at a half grown lace monitor at the time, and that's what prompted the story from mum and son.

That baby lacie shot is fantastic CrocDoc!

 

[mysnakesau]

You have some awesome photos Crocdoc. That baby is just too cute. I love seeing the little ones with huge food in their mouth. I saw a tiny baby recently at the same place I found Ricky. He was so tiny I just spotted him as he scooted off the dirt track, and I know it was a lacy - the long tails and the way they run are unmistakable.

Nick, yeah I would take that monitor to the vet. While I consider my husband "anti-vet" he isn't totally heartless. When they do look really sick I have taken them before, and will again.

 

[carterd]

The birds in my yard let me know when we have visitors. One small lacie aprox 80cm resides in our roof.
Years ago when i was 13-14, Noosa National park had huge Lace Monitors that would run up and snatch food from your hand or hit & run familys picnicking.
Soon after they were relocated, so we are led to believe. hasn't been any since.

 

[crocdoc]

I don't know how many years ago you were 13-14, but I took this photo in Noosa National Park in 2001-2002. The original was a transparency, unfortunately on the dark side as it was a beautiful lace monitor. We saw two on the day, the other a fair bit smaller.

 

[maddog-1979]

i made the mistake of feeding the wild gecko that lives under my back verandah.....now he harrass's me and and calls me names and steals my lunchmoney...last night he bit my friend for lookin at him wrong, and if you think an EWS bite is bad you shoulda seen this little guy...there was almost blood

all jokes aside tho. dont feed the wildlifes!!