Eastern Water Dragon and my gravatar image

This  Eastern Water Dragon (Physignathus lesueurii) is usually found on east coast of Australia. For more information about this lizard please follow this link to Australia Zoo.

I came across this specific specimen while investigating a new patch of bush nearby. It didn’t take us a long to establish a trusting relationship between us and I spent the next half hour photographing him from every conceivable angle. With every new photograph I took he allowed me to approach a step closer until I could almost touch him with the tip of my lens. It seems to me that he was very much amazed by my behaviour and  wondered what am I doing crawling on the ground as I was admiring his intelligent appearance.

I like this portrait of him so eventually  it ended up as my choice for my gravatar image ( and no that is not how I look like ). Every time I see it I am reminded of how important our relationship is to the natural world around us.

I was quietly enjoying our interaction  when group of Japanese tourists arrived behind me . They looked  at us and probably thought how he was a totally tamed so they approached closer in an attempt to take some photos.  The moment when the first shutter sounded the dragon disappeared into the bushes. Japanese tourists were  clearly confused and continued their walk disappointed( at least that was what I thought they were saying).

This short encounter is one small example that shows how so many people today have already lost their sense and  sensibility towards our natural world and all of it’s wonderful creatures. I wasn’t surprised that their  interaction with a dragon ended  before it started.