Monday, February 9, 2009

Bad Boyd's

Boyd's Rainforest Dragons (Hypsilurus boydi) are great. They're just spectacular animals. Quite bizarre and beautiful. I guess they're one of those things that herpers and other nature-nuts such as myself just *have* to see when they're in the Far North.

I'd been only partly satisfied by seeing them at night - and I did this quite frequently. They're just asleep, stretched out and boring, so I'd been keen to see one in the daylight. On a number of occasions, I'd see one or two at night, then go back and have a look in the morning, but never find one. I did see one in the daytime a week or so ago, then went to grab my camera and when I came back the thing had scooted off and couldn't be found.

Just a couple of nights ago I spotted a two at Lake Euramoo, then of course couldn't see a single one the following day.

But it was destined to be a good day for dragons. At Mobo Creek I was doing the short walk when I reached the creek which was flowing over the track a little too enthusiastically for me to continue. As I turned around I spotted a dragon perched on a tree just a couple of metres away so I whipped out the camera and got some shots just as a mosquito landed on its head.



Just a couple of hours later I saw another, this time when I was wondering around at Lake Barrine. Both of these guys were totally fine with me taking photos of them.



To me these dragons are a bit like the green-eyed frogs (Litoria serrata) I suppose. Beauty in a subtle, rather than flashy form. And I can't get bored of seeing them or taking photos. Hope you enjoy them too!

2 comments:

Snail said...

They're natural posers!

I had a close encounter with a forest dragon at Lake Barrine. It was on the ground for some reason and panicked when I approached it. In a not very well thought out move, it hurtled up the nearest vertical object --- my leg. I was wearing baggy board shorts at the time. It was probably the fastest I've ever moved. I put my hand over my shorts to stop the dragon heading where it was heading. Then I picked him up and put him on a tree. (No camera, of course.)

The thing that struck me was how light they are. It's like picking up a bird.

(Word verification: flays. Not sure about that.)

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