He was a miniature dinosaur of a lizard, frozen in the
middle of the road into the shape of a grey tree branch with legs. I slowed the
deadly wildlife crusher that is my station wagon and pulled over to the side of
the road. I grabbed for my camera under the seat as he crossed in a leisurely
fashion to the relative safety of the road verge.
As I exited the car he changed tactics and ran over
to a nearby tree. It sat at the base watching with its head at a strange angle
as I got one quick photo and then obviously deciding I was not going away, it
climbed the tree.
Not on my side. And not very far up.
Oh no. It quickly ran
around the tree and climbed up the back. Naturally I moved to the side to get a
better photo. Then he did the strangest thing. He moved again to be behind the
tree from me.
For several minutes we played hide and seek as I moved to
one side and he moved away from me so all I saw were four little sets of toes on my side.He seemed
more scared of the camera than of me or my car.
So, in the end all I got was this “spot the bearded tree
dragon” “where’s wally” type of photo. He looks like a bump on a log.
It is the small moments like these that make every day
travelling in Australia special.
I love the wildlife here.
