The Crocodile Hunter by Terri Irwin Steve Irwin

Author:Terri Irwin, Steve Irwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

Big Sky country: where to next?

As the day warmed up we began to keep an eye out for reptiles. Most people believe that reptiles are only seen on warm days because they are “cold blooded.” Actually, their blood is not cold, but reptiles simply can’t regulate their own body temperature as mammals can. In order to warm up, a reptile must get into the sun. If a reptile is too hot, it cannot sweat to cool down—it must get out of the sun or into the water. This makes it a very efficient animal. Some reptiles can go long periods without food because they do not rely on the energy from food to warm their bodies, as we mammals do.

Just before midday, Steve spotted a huge sand goanna foraging for food. We zoomed in to film him and he quickly abandoned his hunt for lunch and retreated underground. Steve scooped out this giant from his sandy hollow for the filming opportunity.

I really enjoyed meeting this giant lizard up close. He would have been nearly seven feet long and seemed to be as curious of me as I was of him. He had enormous forearms, reminding me of Popeye, and a long, forked tongue which he flicked out at me. Most lizards have a fat, fleshy tongue but goannas, or varanids, have a forked tongue like a snake’s. And, just like a snake, they use their tongue to help pick up scent particles. As this enormous “sandy” lightly flicked his tongue over my face, he was actually smelling me. What an experience!

When we explored the area where the goanna had been searching for food, Steve uncovered a nest site just under the sand next to some rotting timber. The nest held ten or twelve little white eggs. I was stumped, but Steve knew immediately that they were lizard eggs. Upon closer inspection, we saw that some of the eggs were starting to hatch. I didn’t fully appreciate at the time what an incredible find this was; I just figured Steve always came across lizard eggs from time to time. However, not since we filmed these precious little sand goannas have I witnessed goanna eggs hatching in the wild. Fortunately, the big male sand goanna, who might have made a meal of these hatchlings, was not sighted again.

In between all the goanna excitement, we would faithfully check the lead-in bait in front of our croc trap. Every morning we were disappointed; the piece of meat had not been touched. Steve was starting to lose patience. We were all too aware that this was a race against time. There was a crocodile poacher out there somewhere who was trying to catch this crocodile, too…but with a bullet. Steve began checking the lead-in bait earlier and earlier in the morning, even before it was light.

One morning, when we had all returned from checking the trap site, there were visitors waiting for us. I worried that something might be wrong. As we approached the campsite I could see an old battered Nissan tray-back with a cattle dog in the back.

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