I found this baby Calotes on coming back from work today. It was sitting on the path, and for a moment I thought it was a twig. I picked it up and put it to safety on a Canna leaf before taking these photos.
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An amazing number of Indians are terrified of these harmless lizards, and a lot of them imagine it's a vampire which "sucks their blood"- because it's got a coloured dewlap (this one has one too, bright blue, which it displayed when I picked it up) and the floor of its mouth moves up and down as it breathes. Some morons even used to murder them on sight earlier. I haven't heard of anybody doing that in a long time, fortunately, but I have seen people refuse to walk along a path just because one was sitting on a wall on one side.
People are bizarre and stupid.
An amazing number of Indians are terrified of these harmless lizards, and a lot of them imagine it's a vampire which "sucks their blood"- because it's got a coloured dewlap (this one has one too, bright blue, which it displayed when I picked it up) and the floor of its mouth moves up and down as it breathes. Some morons even used to murder them on sight earlier. I haven't heard of anybody doing that in a long time, fortunately, but I have seen people refuse to walk along a path just because one was sitting on a wall on one side.
People are bizarre and stupid.
Bill, I looove your little Calotes. Lucky little guy that it was you who ran into him/her. May he/she live a long and healthy life.
ReplyDeleteAdorable.
ReplyDeleteThat is a strange-looking little lizard. We have three varieties of lizard around here: The common anole (which changes color and has the dewlap), some tiny skinks, and Mediterranean geckos. The last of those three weren't around when i was a kid, but apparently came in via the ships on the Houston ship channel in the eighties and are now all over.
ReplyDelete