Sometimes, standing still in the bush brings the wildlife to me. On Friday I had found a fallen branch and was standing, thinking about ways of photographing it – the branch was very large. After a few minutes, I heard shuffling sounds in the undergrowth. Expecting an echidna to emerge, I quietly turned around, camera poised. When the Blue-tongue Lizard shuffled into view I was amazed. I have not come across one in the bush before.

I moved and the lizard froze. Reading up on their habits, if the lizard feels threatened it will hiss and may charge at the threat. This one just stood perfectly still. Either it was assessing its options, or I wasn’t close enough to pose a threat. Perhaps it thought it was hidden from view? I took a couple of photographs and then backed off, letting it pass back into the bush.

When looking at the photographs on the computer, I noticed the lizard has red eyes and lovely long toes. While it may have poked out its infamous blue tongue, I did not see it doing that. While I was looking at it, the lizard did not move a muscle.

According to the Museum of Victoria app, Blotched Blue-tongued Lizards feed on a variety of things, including fruits, flowers and other plant material, along with small “slow moving” animals such as snails. This is one of the lizard species which gives birth to live young.