Day two at the R.S.P.C.A.

Today I was determined not to mess anything up! Again no ambo calls (which really is a good thing) so I filled in the gaps with the strays and did some pre-surgery prep. Apparently I have already garnered the title of cat whisperer due to my magic cat washing skills. There were four I had to prep for surgery and all of them were so cute! One had a terrible amount of fleas and the bath I gave her was clearly uncomfortable as the fleas were migrating all over the place. I still managed to keep her calm, maybe I do have cat magic....

While on break I noticed a large bird enclosure that was being repaired by a maintenance man. When I asked who it housed he said "wild goannas", you can imagine my excitement! The enclosure was donated and in the meantime a bit neglected therefore leaving it open to whomever wanted to inahabit it. This whomever turned out to be a large female monitor (goanna). The story goes that a large male came around and mated with her, when she became gravid she couldn't fit into the burrow under the sidewalk so she used the bird enclosure!!! Given the physical description is could be anything from Gould's Goanna (Varanus g. gouldi), Desert Sand Monitor (Varanus g. flavirufus) or an Argus Monitor (Varanus panoptes). Given that the RSPCA is in the bush a bit north of mangrove mudflats and south of the Bohle floodplain I'd say it's the panoptes.

This is what one looks like and they can reach 5 feet (1.8 metres). I am now actively looking for them, the babies should hatch in a week or so!!!