Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Corfu Fauna

So. Today, with the first fall nip in the air (it was around 15 C/58 F and windy this morning!) T decided to climb on the roof, clean out the fireplace flue. That went fairly well, with the dog slightly disconcerted by the strange sounds coming from behind the newspaper covering the fireplace!


Then it was time to go to the woodpile by the garden and cut up some dead branches, and bring some wood for a fireplace to the house.

Fortunately, my dear T is not easily nettled. He moved some branches and this was staring back at him!!

He was thrown because this Agama was a pretty good size and, at first glance looked pretty fierce!

[Odd too was the red color that still hinted at his magnificence.]




He was dead but still poised and looked ready. (And at first glance he appeared to be waiting!)

We couldn't figure out what suddenly could have caused him to die immediately, and in such a stance!

As to his future... well.

Nevertheless, here he is! And he is, (in true "Monty Python Parrot" tradition, and to paraphrase the Pythons and John Cleese) dead.

"'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This Agama is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-AGAMA!!"



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11 comments:

  1. You sure he's dead??? He's not doing one of those 'dormant/cold/hibernating' things that reptiles tend to do?

    What have you done with him? He's amazing. Soooo glad he's not in our woodpile!

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  2. In other words, this WAS an agama. But he was nice!

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  3. What a beautiful creature..I wonder what made him die..he really doesn't look dead does he?

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  4. Dear Rosie-
    That actually WAS my first thought but if you click on any of the pictures you'll notice that close up he's starting to fall apart....

    Though they look fierce, they're related to Iguanas and pretty mild mannered.

    (We decided to give him a final rest and put him in the burn pile. He'll have a "vikings funeral" like in Beau Geste...)


    Dear Gaelikaa,
    Apart from the first shiver that all reptiles seem to naturally provoke in this warm blooded creature, I have to say that when T came to the door with him on the stick and he "seemed" so tame, I thought "WOW. What an incredible thing to have this great beast live in our garden!" (then of course I found out he was actually dead.)


    Dear Ayak,

    I am totally baffled as to what could have done him in - in that pose!??

    We had a huge bolt of lightening blow out the satellite - perhaps the back pressure stunned him or something. That's the most bizarre yet plausible answer I came up with!

    At first when I realized he was dead it crossed my mind that perhaps someone had thrown a taxidermied agama over the fence- That thought of course was immediately followed by "WHY?" and then of course logic set in and I realized that no one in our neighborhood would even contemplate taxidermy, much less a local trophy keepsake.

    So we remain baffled. Nevertheless, I thought he was worth sharing on the blog!

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  5. And I was thinking he'd become some sort of lawn or garden ornament by the way that he was displayed on the table.:) Hilarious. No, but sad for the poor little guy to have apparently passed away stuck to a branch. You never know what will happen here, never a dull day in Greece!

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  6. What an amazing creature! No idea such beings lived on Corfu.

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  7. Dear Cheryl,

    You're right! Everyday is filled with surprises!

    I suppose that it's the same in other places, but since we've been here on Corfu we've reclaimed our childhood sense of wonder and expectation of mystery in our days. (AND it's been ten years!)


    Dear Viv,

    I'd only seen green lizards this big... never the agamas. The biggest one I'd seen to date was about half this size. (they are rather prehistoric, aren't they?) The other bizarre but charming lizard-like creatures we have are the chameleons, but I haven't seen a big one for a couple of years.

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  8. So, let me get this straight...THAT THING IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!! Oh man....I think I would have collapsed and needed smelling salts to revive me if that was near me let alone a CORPSE! Okay...I'm calm now. Yep...I'm a huge chicken. But man alive! That is one scary reptile. I suppose this is what you get when you don't live in a metropolis. Good for you for not being a huge sissy like me. xoxoxoxo--One of 365

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  9. Dear oneof365,

    When you live out in the "wilds" of a resort island, you come across the odd bizarre creature.

    Usually T comes across it- before me, so I can shriek and jump behind him... plus he's not one of those guys who like to actually "scare" me and generally introduces things like this with "Hey, quick! come and see this incredibly odd animal/lizard/bug, I just found!"

    We've got our rhythm down now, for those scary garden things.

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  10. PS/ to oneof365 - tho I'm on my own with spiders and mice in the house!

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  11. There are so many animals that are now become less due to the changing of environment and their life is in dangerous.One of them animal is agama.We can find only them n museum or in thick forest area.

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