2011-12-30

New neighbour

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

Here’s a new neighbour I met earlier this week while out for a walk. He likes to impress, but won’t let anyone get too close to him, though.

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5 thoughts on “New neighbour”

ROO BOOKAROO says:

2011-12-30 13:06:15 GMT+0000 at 13:06

You could at least give us the name of this intriguing ‘new neighbor”.
He looks like the impersonation of the hard-core apologist angry for not being able to crack your arguments.
No doubt, medieval Catholics would have immediately spotted a demon in disguise.
Australia seems a place where faith alone is not enough to be protected against all hazards and natural demons.

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1. Neil Godfrey says:
  
  2011-12-30 16:50:35 GMT+0000 at 16:50
  
  I never noticed his five-fingers and humanoid arms till I looked at the enlarged photo. I think his kind are the ancestors of the Elizabethan frill-neck pirates cum courtiers — i.e. Francis Drake. Let’s call ‘him’ Frankie (just to avoid embarrassment in case I discover he is a she). What really surprised me was his/her lack of visible teeth. I was prepared to take nationalistic offence at your apologist comparison but when I consider the absence of any visible teeth . . . .
  
  Others’ images of this beast: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=frill+neck&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=jDD&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CGf9TomZG6KPiAeV0Y2nDw&ved=0CEwQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=614
  
  Reply
  1. ROO BOOKAROO says:
    
    2011-12-30 19:19:41 GMT+0000 at 19:19
    
    It also shows you too that it is not that easy to obey the commandment of “love thy neighbor”. It is obvious that Jesus never roamed the deserts of Australia. We might have had a completely different theology.
    
    Reply
Neil Godfrey says:

2011-12-31 05:05:32 GMT+0000 at 05:05

I’ve never been quick enough to capture this or related lizards (little “dragon” lizards without the frill-neck) running on their hind legs but a National Geographic team has:

[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XAo09yYOpCU&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3″]

Why? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/2126557/Evolutionary-fault-makes-dragon-lizards-run-on-two-legs.html and http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/06/16/australian-lizards-can-pop-wheelies/

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