Learn some interesting facts about the Nile monitor
These poor lizards are also persecuted by traditional healers who think that this lizard has special medicinal properties, however, even this trade is illegal and those found to be in possession of Nile monitor body parts can be prosecuted.
On Thursday, 21 November, I received a call from a frantic woman who stays in Linnet Road, Woodlands.
She couldn’t quite explain to me what she had in her lounge. She said it’s big, kind of like a snake but not a snake, has a long tail and she wants it out of her house. When I got to the house everyone was standing outside. They pointed to the corner where they had a corner display cabinet. This thing had crawled between the wall and the cabinet and was now sitting half-way up the wall.
I had a look, it was a Nile monitor, aka water leguaan. This one was not small, but it was not huge neither, fortunately for me. It measured about 1.3m long from snout to tail tip.
After moving the cabinet, I figured that I could restrain and even pick it up using my trusty snake tongs, but the tongs are not made for this powerful lizard, it just slipped right through the grip. I had no other choice but to get my hands around its neck before it escaped to another part of the house. I grabbed it as close to the head as possible to avoid a bite. While they are not venomous they do have a good set of teeth that are quite capable of ripping flesh. I picked it up, but I neglected to also restrain the back end of the lizard, near the base of the tail. It twisted its body around and dug its razor sharp back claws into my arm.
In the couple of seconds that it took to pick it up and put it into the bucket it scratched my arm quite badly. The Nile monitor, aka water leguaan, is only one of two monitor species found in South Africa and is the only species found in Durban. They can grow up to 2.2m long from snout to tip of tail. As their name suggests they mostly live near water and will often take cover in water when disturbed, although during the rainy season they are known to migrate over land from one water source to another.
The Nile monitor is not a picky eater and will pretty much eat anything that’s not a vegetable. They are capable hunters of small prey such as rodents, snakes and even crabs, but will also not refuse carrion.
In South Africa the Nile monitor is a protected species, it is illegal to own or keep one without a license, not that it is a recommended pet as they do not really tame well in captivity.
These poor lizards are also persecuted by traditional healers who think that this lizard has special medicinal properties, however, even this trade is illegal and those found to be in possession of Nile monitor body parts can be prosecuted.
DID YOU KNOW?
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