Wednesday, April 29, 2009

its like Dr. Doolittle over here.

Quick note.

Anna and I were at work painfully sitting through a long, hot and dusty meeting-which was in no way ending quick enough-when we heard screaming from downstairs. People were yelling that some animal had gotten into the office, come and see! OH we were excited! Anna and I ran downstairs ( holding hands as we ran). Was in a mongoose? Was it a cobra? (better not have been a cobra). Had God finally come to personally instruct me on what i was to do with my life? No. None of the above.

We stopped just before the gate, outside on the patio entrance to the compound. The men were pointing to the flower pots, apparently 'it' was hiding in there. "What is it?"..the men through a stick at the corner to make it jump out...."A big lizard."...."What?"...I stood there like one of those American tourists with my had on my hip and a high pitched voice...."What? Where? I don't see it!"...."It's big, watch out."......Anna and I stood waiting. They threw something else.
"How big - oh god." There is was. Like a friggn' crocodile. With claws and panache and SPEED. And then it ran at us. That's right, just like the monkey....

Anna and I bolted up the stairwell, screaming for dear life. This thing running behind us, through the door, up the stairs...and we had to actually RUN for it to not catch up. Looking back, I feel bad for it now, it was more frightened than we were. But with a reptile this size, and the indians screaming "Its poisonous!" in the background....we were just trying to run as fast as possible. I wonder what our reaction would have been if we were chased by a stampede of elephants instead? Maybe just fainting from shock would have been the best policy. I didn't catch Bear's instructions for this situation.

Unfortunately Monsing, one of the men with a stick, got to it - and right in the stairwell, in front of me (anna couldn't watch) - beat it unconscious. I was told later, they took it out of the compound, released it and watched it scurry away. Of course, the brain damage it suffered is another story - and by the way, did i mention they are endangered? Le sigh. I guess there wasn't a lot we could have done. I mean, we could have asked it to leave (like the monkey), but if it was poisonous - there isn't any "let me pick it up by the tail" and take it out of here. It had claws, poisonous saliva, and a tail whip weapon. As you can see for yourself....


So yeah, this is a baby Monitor Lizard (one of the giant lizards of india - cousin of the Komodo Dragon). After the hysteria, my friend told me he has lived in Lucknow all his life, and has never seen any kind of lizard this size, let alone a Monitor. At full maturity they can reach anywhere from 6.5 -10 feet. So, im just happy it ran into us now....I don't need a 10 foot anything chasing after me. That couldn't possibly be a good idea.

If you would like to watch the you tube video of the aftermath (after he beat the poor thing)....you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4lZTkAIttQ

You can hear me freaking out in the background if you listen closely.

1 comment:

Take it, and Put it, and Tell me.

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