Indian water monitor lizard

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

CANON 60D
SIGMA 150-500 MM OS
ISO. 400
SS. 1/60
F. f/6.3

FULL FRAME.IN BHITARKANIKA,DANGMAL,ORISSA.
Hand held.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice close-up. It is strong and powerful and cobra and baby crocodile are no match.
I still do not have a clear answer in my mind whether such a large lizard could be killed by an adult fishing cat !
Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Lovely. Were you on boat? Wish the nose tip was also visible. That would have enhanced the image manifold. Do you have a wider shot as well?

To know how a monitor lizard would fare against an adult fishing cat, I am quoting from "Natural History of Indian Mammalia" by Robert Armitage Sterndale, 1884, page 189 about the ferocity of fishing cat
"This large cat is not uncommon near Calcutta, and is reputed to live much on fish and fresh-water shells, but also I should say on larger game. According to some authors (Buchanan-Hamilton, for instance), it is fierce and untameable, but Blyth states that he had several big toms, quite tame, and in the Surrey Zoological Gardens there was many years ago a very fine male which he had frequently handled and had even on his lap. He relates, however, in another part, that a newly caught male of this species killed a tame young leopardess of twice its own size, having broken through the partition of a cage, but he did not eat any portion of her. The Prince of Wales took home a very fine specimen of this cat among his collection of living animals.

After reading this, I am sure the fishing cat would be able to account for a large monitor lizard.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhirup Dutta Gupta]

No sir it was on the ground.