Back from Vacation!

Hi, sorry it has been a few months since my last entry. Went to the States and other places. But now I am back and getting into the groove.
Today a man came to the gate selling a River Nile monitor lizard. So I got it! These are usually hunted for their skins to make drums.

The Nile Monitor, Water Leguaan, or River Leguaan (Varanus niloticus) is a large member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae).Nile Monitors can grow to about 9 ft (2.7 m) in length. They have muscular bodies, strong legs and powerful jaws. The teeth are sharp and pointed in juvenile animals and become blunt and peg-like in adults. They also possess sharp claws used for climbing, digging, defense, or tearing at their prey. Like all monitors they have a forked tongue, with highly developed olfactory properties.Their nostrils are placed high on the snout, indicating that these animals are highly aquatic, but are also excellent climbers and quick runners on land. Nile Monitors feed on fish, snails, frogs, crocodile eggs and young, snakes, birds, small mammals, large insects, and carrion.

As you can see below, it takes a very skilled person to handle this monster. Like me...HA! The one who let his sharp claws to rip my pants next to my knee. Oh, well, there goes another pair of trousers.
 One thing I would be glad I had was the new gauntlets I got while in the States. It is made by Hexguard. A company that makes special gloves for handling animals and other dangerous things.

Here you can see the very dangerous claws that can just do devastation to anything it gets close to. Also the lizards tail is used a whip for defense, which my wife learned...Sad. So tomorrow I will be releasing it back into the wild to live another day.