Reptiles spotted during the workshop
In my earlier blog I described the journey. This one will be like a checklist of various spotting during the field herpetology workshop of 8-9 September with Vipul and Catherene of Bike n Hike.
During night hours, looking around
for more than half an hour, we had our first found - Fan throated lizard
(Sitana Ponticeriana) male. This are called so because of the fan like
structure in throat, which they use to attract female and also to express their
agitation when disturbed. The one we spotted was basking and did not have the
throat fanned! I could not click this; however, below is the image I created during Thol cleaning drive on 10th June 2012, in which we collected some 100 + kgs of garbage!!
Moving on, our second spotting was Lepord Gecko (Spotter:
Catherene). This one was adult female and later on we could also spot an adult
male. This is was my first chance to see live gecko; interestingly, it was also
for the first time that I got to know that lizards and geckos are different;
there is difference in the scales; while lizards have overlapping granular
scale, most geckos don't. Another common difference between the two is while
lizards have eyelids while geckos don't. Leopard Gecko is an exception; it has
eyelids unlike most geckos. That is how its zoological genus - Eublepharis - is inspired; 'Eu' is ' good or true' and 'Blephar' = Eyelid!! I am not sure which species is this; it can either be Macularius or Fucus (Any help, Vipul?)...Geckos can be pet and leopard geckos are in popular
demand as pets.
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| Leopard Gecko: Adult male |
Having spotted this, Vipul exclaimed, 'even if we don't
find anything else, our trip is worthwhile after having found a leopard gecko'.
Wow, I was really excited to have witnessed something uncommon. This seems to be rare reptile to be found in the field. This was my
first experience of clicking at night hours and thus, I could not get a clear
image. To compensate, below is a better image clicked by a friend Gaurav. Yes,
the gecko had problem with its left eye and it is not doing anything else at
us!!!
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We moved on to and explored more things and tried to
spot some more reptiles. Our next find was a Termite Hill Gecko (Hemidactylus
triedrus) - adult male. We spent good time understanding how to sex the gecko based on the bulging; we could also spot a female termite-hill gecko later on.
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| Termite Hill Gecko |
The next spot was again from Catherene and it was not a reptile but an arthropod; it was a scorpion from Hottentotta family; species of which could not be ascertained. The Hottentotta are among the species of scorpions that reproduce not sexually but through parthenogenesis, a process in which unfertilised eggs develop into living embryos!!!
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| Hottentota Scorpion |
Day 2
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After night spotting on day 1, there was day tracking on day 2. The
movement was minimal as there had been drizzles over last two days and
this has slightly dampen our enthusiasm. However, the search was on. After
roaming around and finding another basking fan throated lizard, I went on in
desperation upturning the smaller rocks strewn around. One such attempt
resulted in spotting another scorpion. Voila, my first spotting!!!
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| Scorpion with its exoskeleton |
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| Fan throated lizard |
Few
clicks here and there about the landscape, and I could spot a monitor lizard
hiding in a bush!! WE HAVE FOUND IT!!!
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| Monitor hiding in the cactus |
This
one was adult Bengal Monitor or Common Indian Monitor (પાટલા ઘો). Its zoological name is Varanus
bengalensis. They are found both in dry semiarid desert habitats to moist
forest. They are diurnal and have good night’s sleep. We could spot it basking
in bright sun. Having very strong claws, it is difficult to move them from
behind and one needs to hold them from front only. A popular legend has it that Shivaji's
general, Tanaji Malusare, used a monitor with ropes attached for climbing the
walls of the Sinhagad fort in the Battle of Sinhagad. We could spare a very good time with this nice reptile,
which at times being misunderstood as baby dinosaur
too!!
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| Bengal Monitor - Head |
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| Bengal Monitor basking on the rock |
Vipul needed to spend a long time safely getting it out of the cactus. After studying it, it was released only to have spotted again between the crevics. Below are nice capture of it being clicked!!
Not much of spotting after this big (literally and notionally). We could spot a small minivet, a blue bull, a cormorant and a skink, gender and species of which could not be verified.
Finally near the watch tower, it was time to witness Cobra (Naja Naja) hissing and opportunity to click it. This was my first ever effort of clicking cobra at a ground level, and need I say I loved it soo very much. Following are some clicks of this most fascinating creature I have clicked
Fun time, great learning and lot of confidence building measures.The workshop was indeed very good beginning in herpetology for me.
Please get in touch with www.facebook.com/bikenhikeindia or Vipul Ramanuj (
9825714841 ) if you want to attend such workshops and experiences!!
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