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Montior lizard

And just in case you ever wondered what they eat...he showed us....

Nice size...I had 1 as a pet in the UK..but it got too big to handle,so sold it on..gotta be careful of them whipping their tail round and lashing you..nasty bite too.

Froggs

I have seen them run across the road, but I never got close enough to get a Photo. The locals told me they eat birds also.

Edited August 7, 200817 yr by skipvice

Nice size...I had 1 as a pet in the UK..but it got too big to handle,so sold it on..gotta be careful of them whipping their tail round and lashing you..nasty bite too.

Froggs

The neighbor guy told the wife that this was just a "little one"

heh...I've seen some bigger ones in Lumpini park too...would'nt go near them without a big bat..or a gun

Froggs

Should have left it alone, they are harmless when not threatened. And there are indeed a couple of big ones in Lumpini, snacking on all the picnic left-overs.

We used to live in Melaka, Malaysia and big monitor lizards are very common there. There was one living in the drain that ran along the road we lived on and it would come into our garden from time to time. Many of them live in the river and some are over 6 feet long.

I have only seen four or five in the eight years I have lived in Phuket and all of them were small. What did they do with him? Was he released?

Hope you released it !

Seems it was doing a good job at pest control.

Cheers

They are not aggressive creatures and do a very good job of vermin control.

Their eyesight is pretty poor and if they feel threatened they'll try to run up the nearest tree.

If one mistakes you for a tree and starts running towards you, either hope you can run faster or drop flat to the ground.

We used to live in Melaka, Malaysia and big monitor lizards are very common there. There was one living in the drain that ran along the road we lived on and it would come into our garden from time to time. Many of them live in the river and some are over 6 feet long.

I have only seen four or five in the eight years I have lived in Phuket and all of them were small. What did they do with him? Was he released?

The thai version of first responders emergency crew was called and they hauled it away to be released in the forest.

Apparently ( and it must be true) if this little guy runs onto your property you will have bad luck, so they had to get it out of the community!

We used to have many on our house in Bkk that backed onto a klong, some seemed close to 2m long. Even had one come in the house when it was chased by the dogs. I was always happy to see them.

Declining population of them here on Koh Samui.

Some Thais find them very tasty

I've seen 2 where I live in Rawai. Neither were full grown, but I was fascinated to see them. The first time a Thai man was getting on his motorbike holding the monitor (alive) by it's throat! I felt v sorry for the poor monitor, and often wondered what the man was going to do with him. If he intended to eat it, surely he would have killed it. From one of the previous posts, perhaps he was just moving it considering it bad luck? Neither were full grown as they were only about 1m long.

All the Thai guys that dealt with this one were pretty gentle...even though he had it pinned down with a 2x4 he didn't hurt it at all and the rescue guys that took it away treated it pretty well, they taped hit mouth closed first so it wouldn't bite them and supposedly hauled it off to release it in the wild which no one around seemed to doubt.

Check this one out in Langkawi. Mutiara Beach Resort. Have been there many times and always one or two available to view !

and fancy swimming with one? also at Mutiara Beach Resort

they eat them in malaysia. "biawak meat" and a delicacy with Toddi

they are lovely creatures though. so nice to look at and very very peaceful.

The Thai word for them is, I think, hia which is a pretty bad insult to throw at a person.

Only time I saw one was crossing route 36, death highway as we called, near the Regent's school. All the traffic right up to the trucks and busses took great care to avoid it unlike any other life form that tried to cross.

The one that lives in water is refered to as hia and no self respecting thai would eat them, but there is also a jungle version that lives in the forest and climbs trees. They look similar but their head shape is different. These are commonly eaten by thais, have eaten them myself, quite delious as a pat pet.