The giant lizard

[Mike H]

Yesterday afternoon while grilling burgers, my children came to me with news of a giant lizard next to the house. It was a broadhead skink. Skinks are pretty common around the house, and this one was about 8 inches long. We caught the lizard, and put it in a jar. We also caught a cicada and put it in with the skink. Pretty cool. We released the skink, cicada in tow, and he made his way back into the woods.

 

[JaDo]

I've never seen one of those before.

I'm impressed that you were able to capture it...and the cicada.

 

[TheVez2]

Very cool skink. Thanks for posting.

 

[rockviper]

Oh man...... now I'm all hungry

 

[Mike H]

Oh man...... now I'm all hungry

I figured skink on the grill would not compare with the gourmet burgers, so I gave him a pass.

Cicadas on the other hand...http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/05/0503_040503_cicadafeast.html

 

[tommyguns]

when i was a kid i had an african skink. My parents just split so we were moving and while I was packing I dropped him and he ran away in my room I could not catch him even though I tried and was to scared to tell my mom so I remember dumping my bucket of crickets out so he wouldn't starve and left. I remember being so sad leaving him behind but now that I think about it I laugh because the people who bought our house were moving in like 2 days later thats why we had to rush to get out but to have all those crickets loose plus a nice size skink running loose in the house lol.

 

[tinashubby]

We have a leopard gecko, and my wife just got this guy, a crested gecko:

 

[Slash McCoy]

The title had me thinking Komodo Dragon, or at least Iguana.

We used to catch iguanas in Belize, where they are quite a delicacy. They are often referred to as "bamboo chicken", even though you don't find them in bamboo. Usually you find them on tree branches overhanging the rivers. Best way is to have a partner. You put him ashore and paddle back out under the iguana's branch. Your partner climbs up the tree, or else tries to scare it with thrown sticks (watch your head... gravity, and all that.) and when the critter leaps from its perch, it generally heads straight for the bottom of the river and swims to the opposite bank. Your job is to dive in and knowing how it is likely to go, intercept the iguana as it attempts to escape. You could simply shoot it, but capturing it alive allows you to keep it without having to cook it right away. The females are especially prized for their eggs.

Strangely enough, Belizeans don't seem to care for alligator. I was quite surprised when one of my neighbors killed a 9 foot gator that was in the habit of lurking near where his kids swam, but didn't eat any of it at all. He thought it was strange that I was upset about so much gator being wasted! I told him that he basically discarded a several hundred pound iguana, and he promised to never waste gator meat again if I was around.

 

[Argonaut]

Cool pics. Sweet skink!

 

[TheVez2]

Love that Crestie!

Cicada-Licious Mmmmm Yummy!

 

[Obiwan]

Cool pic!

when i was a kid i had an african skink. My parents just split so we were moving and while I was packing I dropped him and he ran away in my room I could not catch him even though I tried and was to scared to tell my mom so I remember dumping my bucket of crickets out so he wouldn't starve and left. I remember being so sad leaving him behind but now that I think about it I laugh because the people who bought our house were moving in like 2 days later thats why we had to rush to get out but to have all those crickets loose plus a nice size skink running loose in the house lol.

This story is both sad and hilarious all at the same time, thanks for sharing.

 

[maxman]

All I could think about while reading this was the album
"Big Lizard in My Backyard" by the Dead Milkmen

 

[Miles]

Nice catch and release! Reminds of when I used to catch snakes as a lad up in Northern Michigan, always a good time. Hope your skink doesn't come back like a raccoon, looking for more free meals

 

[Dave258]

when i was a kid i had an african skink. My parents just split so we were moving and while I was packing I dropped him and he ran away in my room I could not catch him even though I tried and was to scared to tell my mom so I remember dumping my bucket of crickets out so he wouldn't starve and left. I remember being so sad leaving him behind but now that I think about it I laugh because the people who bought our house were moving in like 2 days later thats why we had to rush to get out but to have all those crickets loose plus a nice size skink running loose in the house lol.

Funny story! About 15 years ago I shared a co-op with my sister. I had so many lizards I ordered 2000 crickets every other week and kept them in one of those big rubbermaid sweater boxes. One day I had just got my delivery of 2000 crickets, cleaned the rubbermaid and put them in with the top on. Left my room, came back about 10 minuted later. My sisters cat knocked the box over, lid off and was chasing the 2000 crickets around my room. I caught a good amount, as many as I could. I soon moved out but my sister lived there for another 3 years... You could always hear the pleasant sounds of crickets chirping...

We have a leopard gecko, and my wife just got this guy, a crested gecko:

Nice Crestie! I bred those for about 2 years before they were so readily available. Great lizards, Leopards also.

 

[Pat.G.Boisvert]

Nice catch... where do you live? No lizards naturally live where I am... there are the few people that release pets but those never make it pass a winter. -40Celcius will hurt just about anything.