So fitting that an Agama Lizard should choose a lizard sculpture as his HQ.
Can you see the live lizard on the back of the big metal lizard?
This post is a teaser excerpt of our 2-day trip to the towns called Ceres, and Tulbagh in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. On our first day we visited Ceres, and on the second day we visited Tulbagh.
So, what I will do next is to do 2 posts of Ceres marked Ceres Part 1 and Part 2. Then I will do 2 posts of the town Tulbagh marked Part 1 and Part 2.
But for now, let's have a look at the Agama lizard family, that I spotted at a roadside shop where we stopped for some coffee.
No, you could not see it, but I could and here is a close-up of the lizard.
It is called a Southern Rock Agama lizard (Agama ato).
He spotted something and turned to have a proper look.
And then he jumped off the metal lizard to go and investigate.
Agama (from Sranan Tongo meaning "lizard") is a genus of small-to-moderate-sized, long-tailed, insectivorous Old World lizards. The genus Agama includes at least 37 species in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where most regions are home to at least one species. Eurasian agamids are largely assigned to genus Laudakia. The various species differ in size, ranging from about 12 to 30 centimetres (5 to 12 in) in length, when fully grown.
Ah yes, it was a lady and she wanted to mate.
No, no, my love, not now, as that guy is taking pictures of us.
Just as well, as one of the children also came out to have a look at me.
That spoiled the lady's plans, and she tried to hide, hoping that the child would go away :)
Agamas are diurnal, active during the day. They can tolerate higher temperatures than most reptiles, but when temperatures approach 38 °C (100 °F) they generally shelter in the shade. Males frequently threaten each other by nodding, weaving, and displaying their brightest colours to establish dominance. If that is insufficient, they lash their tails and threaten each other with open jaws. The jaws are very powerful, and older males commonly have damaged tails as souvenirs of past combat. Females may sometimes chase and fight one another, and hatchlings mimic the adults' behaviour.
But the child spoiled the fun and the male Agama returned to his headquarters on top of the metal lizard.
Never in my life could I expect to find a lizard on a metal sculpture of a lizard. So fitting that he chose an artificial lizard as his home, and maybe he knew that the sculpture was a lizard? I saw that there were many other metal sculptures there of animals and even dragons around that I will show you in another post, but this guy chose the lizard sculpture. I am sure that it must mean something, but what, I don't know.
In any case, I am going to show you some other adventures that we experienced on the roads, and during the trip this week.
That's all for now, and I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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