Alice Is Wonderland.... Herping the Red Centre Part 2.

First published in Scales and Tails Australia Issue 43 - Sept 2015.

After my first brief trip through Alice Springs I knew it wouldn't be long before I found myself back in the red centre; and let's face it, when reptiles are involved any excuse will do. The dust, the red rock, the escarpment and the dry winds were calling me, and I could hear them amidst the tropical monsoons of Darwin.

And so it was that my young apprentice, Josh Bouman, who is as tall as a basketballer and makes me look like a dwarf (not that that's really difficult), the old, experienced field man, Gavin Bedford (did I mention he's my boss?), and I set out on a week-long adventure to the desert.

Josh and I were to meet Gav in Alice. He drove down, while we chose the more comfortable option of flying. We figured the hour-long flight, with breakfast, was preferable to two days driving flat out from Darwin, stuck in the car with Gavin's country music and him belting out a....tune????

On the descent into Alice, Josh and I were talking about the MacDonnell Ranges that surround the township, and how awesome and exhilarating it would be to find a Perentie (Varanus giganteus) sunning itself up on those rocky hills, just like we had seen in the Steve Irwin (an idol of both of ours) documentaries in the past.

Upon landing we met Gavin at the airport and drove straight to the Alice Springs Reptile Centre, where Josh would be doing a week of volunteer work and learning a thing or two from Rex Neindorf. After a quick catch up with Rex and a coffee and cake at the mall, the real fun began. Now I don't know if it was the caffeine or the excitement of being back in Alice, but I just couldn't wait to get into the scrub!

Gavin and I were on a collecting trip for work (Crocosaurus Cove, Darwin). The collection of wildlife is permitted through the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife permit system and works hand in hand with landowners - giving reptiles a dollar value that will translate into conservation in action. This is a process that Gavin is passionate about and it seems to be working, with many landowners around the Northern Territory recognising his efforts. Authorised collectors are able to breed these reptiles and then sell off the young to hobbyists. This gives landowners an incentive to keep native wildlife on their property, rather than destroying habitat for other purposes and potentially the animals themself. Without this kind of work, some species may not be available to hobbyists.

The main animal we were looking for was - you guessed it - the Perentie, which is a marvellous reptile for displays and was on my personal bucket list. Gav had an idea where we could look, so we headed out to Undoolya Station, one of the smaller but very pretty stations in the area. It really does give you a sense of isolation when you drive merely 15 minutes out of town and are completely on your own. It didn't take long before Gavin was putting me to shame, spotting six Central Netted Dragons (Ctenophorus nuchalis) to my one - on the side of the road, on small rocks and dirt mounds. After taking a few quick in situ shots of these cheeky lizards and a moment to enjoy them in the wild, we were back on the road.

We saw another dozen or so Central Netted Dragons and a few Central Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps); my love for reptiles started with my first pet beardie so many years ago, and here I was in their natural habitat! Gavin was taking me to school on lizard spotting and my ego was feeling a little deflated, until I spotted something a little bit different; a Long-nosed Dragon (Amphibolurus longirostris) sitting on some stale cow dung. Probably not the most pleasant spot to bask, but I guess when you eat bugs it may be in your favour. The abundance in reptile life out in the middle of nowhere really did surprise me.

Then it started to get hot.....I mean really hot. A sweltering 35-plus degrees, which was more than enough to send us back to civilisation for lunch and cold drinks. The rest of the day was spent at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre with Josh and Rex, where I recounted the day's events and the glut of lizards I had spotted - not!

The first night was a pretty easy one, cruising around the outskirts of town looking for Centralian Carpet Pythons (Morelia spilota bredli). However, we didn't have the greatest luck, only finding a few small geckos. I wasn't too fussed, as the day had been more than enough of a teaser to get me excited for the rest of the week.

The next morning, after the routine coffee and cake (the staple diet of the herper), we were off to Undoolya Station in the hope of catching an early morning Perentie out basking to warm up prior to the day's hunt. Unfortunately it was a pretty slow morning, as the previous night temperatures got down fairly low and it was still cold when we started out. We drove around for several hours, but only spotted a few more beardies and Central Netted Dragons (if only they were our target species). We decided to pull up and discuss our options..

Now I don't know if Gavin was being simply nice (or if he didn't have his glasses on), but somehow he missed a one-and-a-half-metre male Perentie laying in the shade of an old shed. My eyes lit up and all of a sudden I heard nothing Gavin was saying. I was locked onto that magnificent animal, and it was only once I realized Gavin was still talking that I simply pointed and said, "Hey, Gav, there's a Perentie!"

We slowly reached into the back seat to grab the cameras and snapped a few shots while the huge lizard was still laying there.

"Well, what do we do?" I asked Gavin.

"Let's just see what it does," he replied.

So we got out of the car and started to approach this massive animal (the Jurassic Park theme song was playing in my head). I was full of excitement and charged with adrenaline, although I did experience a slight hesitation, as this was a big beast; a bite could do a lot of damage and a tail whip would sting like an old leather belt. The Perentie started slowly walking away from us and it was then that Gavin said, "Don't let it get into the next paddock!"

There was tall grass in the adjoining paddock, in which we would surely lose the reptile. I tried to get in front of the animal to cut it off; it started coming towards me - I froze - and then zipped away towards a tree line and a dried-up old dam. I decided to give chase (it felt like I was running a sprint race and getting horribly beaten), but thankfully it wasn't as warm as it could have been and therefore the Perentie was slower than usual. Anyway, it darted up a fairly climbable tree, and once Gavin caught up I turned to him and said, "Well, who's going up there?"

"You must be joking if you think I am," he replied.

We both had a laugh and rued the lack of our apprentice, just when we needed him. I didn't mind; I climbed the tree like an orangutan and was pretty high before I had the chance to think otherwise. The Perentie went higher and higher, until it had no other choice but to come back down. As it made its descent it crossed over to another branch and ended up on some fairly skinny branches. I knew I couldn't follow it any further without breaking branches (and bones). Lucky for me, it started to get uneasy out on the slender branches, aware also that Gavin was underneath it. It had run out of options, and all of a sudden I had a cranky, stirred-up male Perentie coming at me with its mouth agape.

I was covered in scratches and ant bites, but I focussed solely on the Perentie. Moving a bit like a light weight boxer, somehow I managed to avoid its mouth, caught it by the neck and then secured its tail with my opposite hand. I had caught my first Perentie - three metres up a tree! Meanwhile, Gavin was making his way back to the car for our cameras to take a quick shot of me in the tree (thanks, boss). Then it dawned on me.....how do I get both myself and the lizard down in one piece? Ah, yeah, climb down low enough to drop it to Gavin. That should do the trick. Well, it worked a treat, but Gavin's arm got sliced up in the process; talk about sharp claws. Thanks, Gavin, for taking one for the team - at least it didn't get me!

After a few photos, we decided to head back to town. Then, down the stock track comes a 4x4 Toyota Hilux and who should jump out? The station owner. It was a perfect scenario, as he and Gavin are good mates and he got to see the Perentie we caught. We had a quick catch up, grabbed a cold drink from the esky and bagged a few bragging photos. Then it was back into town for us, plus one gorgeous goanna.

I spent the next day helping out around the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. The staff do a lot of important work catching and relocating the reptiles found in and around the town area. Luck was on my side, as I got to go on a call out. Only a short distance from the reptile centre, I got to help save a Spiny-tailed Monitor (Varanus acanthurus) from the mouth of a typical Jack Russell Terrier (all bark and all bite). I'd rather deal with a Perentie any day than one of those fearsome pooches! This was a double bonus for me as I was really keen to find a Spiny-tailed Monitor in the wild and I didn't even have to go looking for one. Unfortunately it had been bitten by the dog and was in need of some looking after back at Rex's (where it made a full recovery).

They say time flies when you're having fun and I couldn't agree more - we saw an incredibly diverse range of lizards in Alice in such a short amount of time. On the last day before the flight home we decided a final drive was in order. We got about a kilometre down a dirt track when a Sand Goanna (Varanus gouldii) flew across the road in front of us and down a burrow off to the side. Josh was with us, and while Gavin and I watched for potential escape holes, he put his arm shoulder-deep down the burrow and got his hand on the tail of the goanna. He pulled it out with the biggest smile on his face, as it was the first Sand Goanna he had ever seen. It was a good start to the morning, and after some quick pics, we released the 'Sandy' back down its hole.

The last animal for the day was a gorgeous little Pygmy Mulga Monitor (Varanus gilleni) we spotted basking on a small tree. We somehow managed to get close enough to marvel at its diminutive size compared with the gigantic Perentie. It really does go to show just how lucky we are in Australia, with our various species of goannas all equally interesting as each other.

The Alice Springs region is a magical part of Australia, with a diverse range of fauna and flora truly worthy of experiencing - and conserving. I enjoy assisting with collection trips like this one, to help create breeding populations of some of the rarer animals in the hobby, and reduce the pressure of poaching and over-collecting on wild stocks. This is only made possible due to the landholders who allow us access to their property.

As always, happy herping!