Nature’s way – Eastern Water Dragon eats grasshopper (gruesome)!

[Dennis]

Hello,

A few days ago I was manoeuvring the ladders around the side of the house, setting up to clean and sand down underneath the eaves for a fresh lick of paint (groan…sore arms, back, neck & shoulders!).

I disturbed some grasshoppers and a beautiful praying mantis in the shrubbery so I went to get my camera to take some photos of the mantis. Upon my return, the (wild) Eastern Water Dragon that lives under our house had emerged and grabbed a grasshopper. As I came around the corner, camera in hand, she scuttled under the fence, into the pool garden with meal in mouth, legs still kicking!

I ran back into the house and fitted the 400 F5.6 and tracked lizzie down on the side of the pool whilst she feasted on her meal. I only grabbed a few shots as she appeared a little nervous and here is one of the more gruesome ones. I was astonished at how big this grasshopper was relative to lizzie’s mouth!:eyepop:

Cheers

Dennis

[RB]

I'm not even going to try and do one of my sports commentaries on this one Dennis.
Except to say that lizzie would've been off to the sin bin for that head high if I was ref.

Awesome shot mate.

:lol:

[acropolite]

Geez, Dennis, that's just not cricket....:whistle:

[Lumen Miner]

Num num num... :) Great shot!!

[renormalised]

No Phil, it's grasshopper:P:P:D:D

[Dennis]

Thanks guys. The time was around 9:30am and the pool area was in dappled shadow. I really should have used manual metering mode rather than auto, as lizzie is a tad under exposed. However, it happened so quickly and program mode did a respectable job!

When lizzie got around to finishing off the legs of the grasshopper, the noise was quite startling – a really loud crunching, grinding sound.

Cheers

Dennis

[seeker372011]

thats all that was missing to complete the total gross out-soundFX :)

nice pic BTW

[Kevnool]

Something completly different.
Cheers Kev.

[erick]

Lizzie - 1, Grasshoppers - nil

[Dennis]

:lol: Actually Eric, the latest score is Lizzie 2: Grasshoppers 0, based on this previous post (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=45279).

And, these are only the ones that we have seen!

Cheers

Dennis

[erick]

Go Lizzie! :thumbsup:

[dpastern]

Super shot Dennis, lovely image, you *nailed* this shot superbly. The camera is only as good as the person using it.

Dave

PS As an aside, "nature's way" was originally the name Gary Larson (The Far Side cartoons) was going to use for his cartooning collection.

[jjjnettie]

Crisp and sharp Dennis.
Thanks for sharing it with us.

[ving]

that grasshopper looks almost too big :)

well done

[Dennis]

Thanks everyone, for your very nice feedback on this image.

I have noticed that quite often, my most memorable photos were those taken when I almost couldn’t be bothered to grab the camera to rattle off a few quick shots. Despite limited time or other pressing distractions that threatened to intervene, whenever I have decided to persevere, grab the camera, fit the lens and take the quick shots, I have often been rewarded with some of my most pleasing images.

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

is that how you keep the flies away at a BBQ Dennis - great shot mate

[stephenb]

Fantastic image. Nature at work.

Err... no cicada problem or grasshopper plagues up your way then I assume, Dennis? ;)

[DavidU]

Great image !
(but it put me off my dinner}:scared2::D

[Dennis]

Hmm, good point, I hadn’t noticed but, since the explosion of the gecko population outside our kitchen window and in the house, cockroaches have been eliminated and we have never sprayed or used chemicals.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

That is SO cool! Fantastic shot, Dennis!

[StephenM]

Super shot Dennis!

Cheers,
Stephen

[Dennis]

Here’s one from the lounge room window looking down on Lizzie, some 15-20 minutes later with the 70-200 F4L fitted. She seems to be less nervous when being photographed from the window, some 2 metres above.

We haven’t seen her since this session!

Cheers

Dennis

[Paul Haese]

That is a great shot Dennis. Excellent focus and great depth of field.