Eastern Water Skink (Inner-city Brisbane)

Description:

With close to 1,300 species, skinks are the largest family of lizards (Scincidae) in the world. There are 389 species of skink in Australia. This is about half of our lizard species. It's a medium sized stocky long-tailed skink, coloured dark brown to olive above and cream to white underneath. The tail is usually olive green. It has obvious external ear hole. It has a sleek body and short legs, and can grow up to 30cms, tail included. It feeds on other lizards, freshwater shrimp, and insects (aquatic and land).

Habitat:

The Eastern Water Skink is usually found close to or on the shore of slow flowing creeks and estuaries, hence its name. Although, the skink is not restricted to areas near freshwater, it is frequently found in somewhat dry environments, including sandstone outcroppings and savanna. The distribution of the Eastern Water Skink ranges from southern Victoria to central Queensland. This fellow lives in my garden amongst the rocks and undergrowth.

Notes:

Lucky fellow!!! Captured by my cats (again), this one lives to see another day. He's been caught before; the tell-tale signs are small wounds on the scales. My cats always 'loudly' announce their catches and bring them home, but rarely kill them, quite often just dropping them at my feet. I've picked him up, taken a photo, and placed him back in the garden. My cats just looked on and simply enjoyed the activity. PS: Please excuse my 'gardeners' fingernails.