Spending time in the bush looking for birds makes you become more aware of sounds and small movements. If the birds are not being particularly vocal then you have to look for movement. Walking along a heathland walk just outside of town I saw movement on the ground and hoping to find a quail of some sort I instead stumbled onto a hunting scene. A Lace Monitor had caught a Ring-tailed Possum. I moved around the pair trying to keep a distance and found that the possum was still alive and weakly struggling. The large goanna became aware of me and broke off from the Possum and watched me a moment before dashing into thicker scrub. I gave the possum a nudge and it sat up, came out of a stupor, and scampered up a nearby tree and into its drey. I felt a little guilty disturbing the goanna in its hunt but being a mammal myself my guilt did not last too long…
Coming back along the track an hour later, I looked around the area for any sign of either combatant and found the goanna head height staring straight at me. It was in the same tree as the possum drey (nest) and I dont doubt that it would continue the hunt as soon as the possum re-appeared. My money would be on the reptilian patience.
Lace Monitor, Heathland walk, Mallacoota
Lace Monitor with Possum prey
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Lace Monitor back hunting his prey
The Gap Year and Beyond 
A fantastic story. What a scary looking creature. And to think that you scared it away instead of visa versa. Now I’ll go to bed and hope I don’t dream about this encounter. 👍
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Thanks Steve, it was a surprise encounter, this guy was interesting to watch and photograph but he was smaller than some of the monsters I have seen – some well over 6 feet, like a small crocodile. You know they are big when they dont run away from you when you get too close.
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Dangerous to humans? Certainly nothing docile looking about them.
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