Sunday, November 06, 2005
The Central Bearded Dragon

Rather cleverly, our resident bearded dragon population (now at least 3 adults and 1 juvenile) has taken to following me round the yard when I'm mowing the lawn.

Far from being twitchy about rapidly spinning blades, they follow three of four paces behind you, picking up the insects disturbed by the mower.

Then, when you turn to come back, they scurry for cover.

This (grumpy-looking) chap, is nearly 2 feet long: not the most colourful, but certainly the biggest in the neighbourhood.

Obviously, the key to retaining wildlife in your yard is lack of pets, and indeed cats get short-shrift when they venture into my garden. You might be a cat-person, or a dog-person - but isn't it better to create a wildlife sanctuary around your home?

It would be a long-shot to expect a snake to take up residency, but with at least two possums coming through the yard each night, its a possibility.

(I now seemed to have solved the cane-toad problem by investing in two big compost bins and keeping all the composting rubbish out the way. That's one bit of wildlife not welcome.)

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