Animal Diaries Archive

True Blue

27 July 2007

Why did the lizard eat all the blue M&M's? Because he wanted to be a Blue Tongue Lizard. Now that's just silly! A lizard with a blue tongue? Hang on a minute, there is such an animal. In fact, there are six different species of Blue Tongue Lizards in Australia, including the Shingle Back Lizard. And none of them got their notorious blue tongues by eating M&M's.

All of the Blue Tongue Lizards belong to the Skink family - big versions of those cute little lizards you see scurrying around in the garden, evading the clutches of the local cats and dogs, by dropping their tails.

Unlike their smaller Skink relatives, the larger Blue Tongue Lizards don't have the same speed and agility to evade predators. Instead, they have to rely on a few other very neat physical attributes that nature has so cleverly provided them with. Let's take Eddie for example. Eddie is an Eastern Blue Tongue Lizard and he comes out most days with one of the Australia Zoo Rovers to meet guests. Eddie's wild cousins can be found along the East Coast of Australia, as well as the top half of the Northern Territory. At 2 years of age Eddie is only a juvenile and still has quite a lot of growing to do - not so much in length, but certainly in width. By the time he is fully grown his body width will have doubled, as will the size of this head. Now this is a lot of lizard for 4 stubby little legs, set a long way apart to carry. As a result, he doesn't move very fast.
To help the wild Eastern Blue Tongue Lizards survive the many perils of the suburban back yard and the vast diversity of the Australian landscape, nature has made them experts at hiding. Their rustic mix of colours, ranging from silver grey to dark brown and their stripe body patterns make it easy for them to hide equally well in sand, dirt, mulch, grass and rocks, to name just a few. If this is not enough to keep them safe from prying eyes, then nature has given them another little trick. What is that I hear you ask? - A BLUE TONGUE of course! And a bright pink mouth.

These bright, lively colours are designed to make the Blue Tongue look fierce and scary to predators. When under threat, the Blue Tongue Lizard will lie very still; flatten out his body to make himself look bigger and scarier; open his jaws wide to display his blue tongue and pink mouth; and hiss. That's it! After that, he's in big trouble if his predator doesn't back off. Sadly, their bluff is generally called when dealing with cats, dogs, motor mowers and cars.

So next time you see a Blue Tongue Lizard, remember that they are timid, shy creatures who want nothing more than to be left alone to bask is the sun, enjoy some tasty local foliage, catch as many as those pesky snails and caterpillars as possible (they are just about the only things slower than the Blue Tongue Lizard) and watch the world go by, without ever being noticed.

Roving Eddie and his many brothers, sisters and friends is a great way to introduce these awesome little Aussies to so many of our guests. A lot of people recognize the Blue Tongue straight away and talk fondly of their own experiences, especially as a child, with these amazing little guys. Those meeting a Blue Tongue Lizard for the first time are just fascinated by these amazing little reptiles and marvel at their blue tongue. One thing is for certain - everyone loves our Blue Tongues after meeting them.

You may have some Blue Tongue Lizards in your garden and don't even know it. Whether you see them or not, keep your yard wildlife friendly for them and other amazing Aussie animals by doing a few simple things.

• Check in long grass before you mow or burn or before turning mulch for injured, nesting or hiding wildlife.
• Check carefully under logs before moving them - they may be the home or nesting ground of someone very special
• Leave rocks in your garden for Blue Tongues to use as shelter
• Plant low growing plants and shrubs for Blue Tongues to hide under
• Don't cut down large established trees - they are important to the cleanliness of the air that we all breath and provide important feeding and nesting opportunities for so much of our native wildlife
• Don't use pesticides-so many of our beautiful Australian reptiles, birds and mammals die under tragically painful circumstances from having mistaken pellets for food, or eaten grubs and bugs poisoned by environmentally unfriendly pesticides. Let the wildlife take care of the bugs - they do an awesome job
• Keep yours dogs and cats inside of a night to ensure the safety of all nocturnal animals
• Keep a watchful eye on your dog or cat if near where a Blue Tongue lives, or if they seem overly interested in and agitated around certain parts of the yard
• Feed pets inside or collect uneaten pet food, to avoid luring Blue Tongues and other animals into danger
• Check your driveway for sun baking Blue Tongues before driving out
• Avoid handling Blue Tongues. Gently wrap them in a towel or sweep them into a box to move them back into the garden or off roads

And one final thing just for the Blue Tongues:-

• Plant a strawberry plant in your garden. This is one of their all time favourite foods. However, don't expect to harvest any of the fruit; just harvest the great feeling of doing something special for one of your Aussie friends

Blue Tongue Lizards RULE!
Roving Carol