Monitor lizard diet - geese disappearing

[goatfarmer]

My geese both disappeared last week. At the same time, I have discovered a monitor lizard in the pond.

Is it likely that a monitor lizard can catch and kill a goose?

[tw25rw]

Maybe, but there would be evidence.. I woudn't think they could eat a whole one. And geese are feisty and would make a racket. I think people or dogs.

[jacko45k]

Seen any pythons?

[masuk]

Maybe, but there would be evidence.. I woudn't think they could eat a whole one. And geese are feisty and would make a racket. I think people or dogs.

Monitor lizards love a good feed of eggs. I doubt they'd be into your geese, and as suggested, geese are rather rowdy when it comes to intruders.

[bassman]

I'd suspect the neighbors first

[Estrada]

"My geese both disappeared last week. At the same time, I have discovered a monitor lizard in the pond.

Is it likely that a monitor lizard can catch and kill a goose?"

Wait a minute and I will take a gander.

Answer: Yes.

[sunshine51]

There is always a chance that a monitor could kill your geese however I suspect other

animals or humans first. As stated geese will make a heck of a din if strangers come

around...whether they be animal or human. That's why many rural folks keep geese

...not just for eggs & food. FYI...monitors will eat almost anything...living or dead...

that's what they do & they do it very well. Any eggs are divine food to a monitor too.

Edited October 22, 2014 by sunshine51

[GarryP]

Monitor lizards favor carrion. Your geese would have kicked up such a racket if attacked, the whole neighborhood would have known about it. Most likely nicked and served for dinner.

[jsflynn603]

Sure.

I used to raise goslings and had 3 geese. One was an Emden that weighed about 18lbs, two were female brown china geese weighing perhaps 12-14lbs. A Fisher cat took one of the Brown China geese, no noise, not much of a ruckus either and I most likely would have heard them. I tracked it (it was winter so there was snow) about 1/4 mile the goose being dragged with some blood, but not much. Then *poof* up a tree. The trail ended there. Consider that the largest Fisher cat weighs about 14lbs and a monitor can be much, much larger. The monitor might have just laid there, the goose goes to take a drink of water and *poof* head down the gullet. I'm not sure the monitor would try to eat it whole but could have dragged the dead goose under a log, to let it rot a bit before eating it. That's what Croc's do.

Edited October 22, 2014 by jsflynn603

[maderaroja]

The neighbors, for sure!

[mike324]

Monitors are messy eaters, there should be a crime scene around yard / pond if they ate it. If there is no crime scene than your geese is MIA.

I've got monitors who come to my pond and eat my fish, they always leave the guts and fish head lying around.

[jaywalker]

I once saw a monitor about 5 & a half feet long in BKK.

I bet he weighed 100 lbs/45 kg. I doubt he could catch two geese though on one day. Maybe one.

Edited October 22, 2014 by jaywalker

[Don Aleman]

Talk about " a small world " ! My Monitor lizard has gained a lot of weight lately - thanks !

[TBWG]

Sorted...... Culprit apprehended!

[schweizer]

Sorted...... Culprit apprehended!

It can't be him, he would be pointing at the crime if he were guilty, "Thai style"

[cornishcarlos]

Big pythons will eat geese...

[wvavin]

If they disappeared without any traces, there are only two types of predators to this; 1. Your neighbours & 2. Pythons.

[Centrum]

Maybe they just moved to a better neighborhood.

[Bangkok Herps]

I thought I would come on as the "expert" to sort everyone out, but the replies so far are actually extremely accurate.

Water monitors prefer to eat carrion, snails, crabs, fish, and eggs. They tend to eat much smaller things than you would think, and much smaller than they are actually capable of eating.

A large monitor could certainly kill a goose. But, as many others have said, geese are larger and more aggressive than the prey they prefer to eat. And there'd be a huge mess afterwards. But it is within the realm of possibility.

Perhaps the monitor was avoiding the pond because the geese were aggressively defending it, and now that something else removed the geese he moved in on the territory? Like others have said, humans and pythons both could be the culprit.

I've regularly seen monitors in the 6-8 foot range in Bangkok, and the largest one I saw was over 8 feet long and was so obese that it could easily have been pushing 80-90 kilos or more (close to 200 pounds). A ridiculously fat beast that was probably living off of discarded meat scraps and trash.

An Ode to Monitors
The Giant Lizards of Lumpani
Water Monitor entry in Bangkok Field Guide

Edited October 22, 2014 by Bangkok Herps

[goatfarmer]

Seen any pythons?

Haven't lately.

Found two three years ago.

[goatfarmer]

There is always a chance that a monitor could kill your geese however I suspect other

animals or humans first. As stated geese will make a heck of a din if strangers come

around...whether they be animal or human. That's why many rural folks keep geese

...not just for eggs & food. FYI...monitors will eat almost anything...living or dead...

that's what they do & they do it very well. Any eggs are divine food to a monitor too.

When the second one disappeared I heard a single HONK from my kitchen. It was about 10 minutes to midnight. If it were humans I would expect the honk to continue unless the human grabbed the goose by the throat and throttled it.

That is what led me to suspect a non-human predator.

[Bangkok Herps]

There is always a chance that a monitor could kill your geese however I suspect other

animals or humans first. As stated geese will make a heck of a din if strangers come

around...whether they be animal or human. That's why many rural folks keep geese

...not just for eggs & food. FYI...monitors will eat almost anything...living or dead...

that's what they do & they do it very well. Any eggs are divine food to a monitor too.

When the second one disappeared I heard a single HONK from my kitchen. It was about 10 minutes to midnight. If it were humans I would expect the honk to continue unless the human grabbed the goose by the throat and throttled it.

That is what led me to suspect a non-human predator.

I would guess that anyone who goes around stealing geese would be smart enough about it to have some idea how to shut the goose up quickly. But that's just speculation.

[marios]

Monitors are messy eaters, there should be a crime scene around yard / pond if they ate it. If there is no crime scene than your geese is MIA.

I've got monitors who come to my pond and eat my fish, they always leave the guts and fish head lying around.

I have been contemplating retiring to Thailand for a long time now. House or apartment? The only answer for me is a condo, never a house with garden in a tropical country. I admire you guys who some of you live in rural areas and who so casually mention cobras, pythons or monitor lizards,let alone scorpions and other nasty stuff. I would never relax in an outdoor setting or inside a house in which one window could have been left open. So gentlemen those of you who live in houses with a garden I envy you but too scared to imitate you.

[mike324]

Monitors are messy eaters, there should be a crime scene around yard / pond if they ate it. If there is no crime scene than your geese is MIA.

I've got monitors who come to my pond and eat my fish, they always leave the guts and fish head lying around.

I have been contemplating retiring to Thailand for a long time now. House or apartment? The only answer for me is a condo, never a house with garden in a tropical country. I admire you guys who some of you live in rural areas and who so casually mention cobras, pythons or monitor lizards,let alone scorpions and other nasty stuff. I would never relax in an outdoor setting or inside a house in which one window could have been left open. So gentlemen those of you who live in houses with a garden I envy you but too scared to imitate you.

I live in the suburbs, so the only threat to my yard are monitor lizards, but they are not that bad, there is a man made lake in my community and my house borders the lake, my wall is low hence the lizards are able to climb into my garden. I actually lost over 100 koi fish in the past 10 years, hence I'm in the process of building a wall and restocking my pond.

Lizards are actually good climbers, one of my foundation pillar is hollow, there is a lizard that always climb up and end up on my 1st floor ceiling. I can't reach that foundation pillar to cover it up hence I got a neighbor in my ceiling.

Over 8 years ago, I also found one on my 2nd floor ceiling as well, these lizards are crazy good climbers with their sharp claws.

You should give it a try, its not that bad

[nithisa78]

There is always a chance that a monitor could kill your geese however I suspect other

animals or humans first. As stated geese will make a heck of a din if strangers come

around...whether they be animal or human. That's why many rural folks keep geese

...not just for eggs & food. FYI...monitors will eat almost anything...living or dead...

that's what they do & they do it very well. Any eggs are divine food to a monitor too.

I like animals. Like people more. Hopefully you through your geese helped feed them.

Thank you.

[goatfarmer]

Monitors are messy eaters, there should be a crime scene around yard / pond if they ate it. If there is no crime scene than your geese is MIA.

I've got monitors who come to my pond and eat my fish, they always leave the guts and fish head lying around.

I have been contemplating retiring to Thailand for a long time now. House or apartment? The only answer for me is a condo, never a house with garden in a tropical country. I admire you guys who some of you live in rural areas and who so casually mention cobras, pythons or monitor lizards,let alone scorpions and other nasty stuff. I would never relax in an outdoor setting or inside a house in which one window could have been left open. So gentlemen those of you who live in houses with a garden I envy you but too scared to imitate you.

Thanks,

You're not alone. People who visit me are constantly on their toes in fear of all the beasties: bats, giant dragon flies, lizards, snakes, spiders, turtles, stag beetles, scorpions, giant centipedes, wasps, ants. After 13 years in the sticks I'm quite at home with them. Generally, the keep to themselves.

[attento]

Monitors are messy eaters, there should be a crime scene around yard / pond if they ate it. If there is no crime scene than your geese is MIA.

I've got monitors who come to my pond and eat my fish, they always leave the guts and fish head lying around.

I have been contemplating retiring to Thailand for a long time now. House or apartment? The only answer for me is a condo, never a house with garden in a tropical country. I admire you guys who some of you live in rural areas and who so casually mention cobras, pythons or monitor lizards,let alone scorpions and other nasty stuff. I would never relax in an outdoor setting or inside a house in which one window could have been left open. So gentlemen those of you who live in houses with a garden I envy you but too scared to imitate you.

Do you realise, you are about to start a new thread on the "delightful "wildlife people find in or around their condos !

[goatfarmer]

The prevailing view now is that the geese disappeared by human agency. Another one went this morning at around 7am.

The question is, how to catch the goose thief.

[goatfarmer]

Mystery solved:

Needless to say, we lost our fourth goose in the process.

Edited October 29, 2014 by goatfarmer

[Bangkok Herps]

It's nice to clear up a mystery!

From the 1st to the 4th, what was the time period over which the geese were eaten?