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Komodo Dragons in the Wild
Some years back my wife and I were in Bali on a vacation and we decided to see the famous Komodo dragons. These reptiles grow to be about the size of a large crocodile, but are strictly land beasts. From Bali, we had to take three different planes until we arrived on a fair-sized island near Komodo. We overnighted there in a very basic hotel. The next morning, our guide,whom we had arranged through a travel agency on Bali to meet, introduced himself and went off in search of a motor launch. Around noon, we set off in the launch with him and two boatsmen. We arrived a few hours later on Komodo. Our accommodations there were in a fairly rustic but pleasant bungalow perched on a hill. After the ringing of a bell to notify all the visitors, dinner was served in a large communal dining hall nearby. The next morning we set out with several park rangers. We had had to buy a goat. As much as I disliked the idea, the goat had to be sacrificed so the smell of its blood would bring the dragons out of their hiding places in the jungle. We must have walked at least a mile on an easy trail through the underbrush to reach our ultimate destination. Here and there we saw signs that said, "Do not go off the trail. Stay with park rangers." Some years back, we were told, an elderly German on a luxury cruise that had docked there had, indeed, gone wandering off the trail. All that had been found of him later was his camera. When we arrived at the top of a twenty-foot bluff, the carcass of the goat was hanging from a rope at the end of a branch down below. We sat and waited a few minutes, and one by one the Komodo dragons came out of the jungle with a gait that was a combination walk and slither. Some of these were as much as fifteen feet long from snout to the tip of the tail. In the end, about twenty five of them gathered around the carcass. I had imagined a feeding frenzy when these dragonlike beasts discovered the goat carcass, but the scene was nothing like that. There was no hissing, fighting or scrambling. The dragons moved slowly up to the carcass and almost delicately took slow bites of it. Being a photographer, I am willing to do a lot of things for a good photo that other people are unwilling to do. Two of the rangers accompanied me down to the bottom of the rise so that we were at the same level as the dragons. Both the rangers had long, stout, forked sticks they could use to push any dragon away if it wanted to come after us. These animals are dangerous. They feed on deer, among other things, and quite possibly on younger dragons. It is said that their bite is very dangerous, too. We approached within at least thirty feet of them. I had a telephoto lens, so while the two park rangers stood guard with their sticks, I shot photo after photo. You can see my pictures at http://www.merriewood.com. When I had shot enough, we went back up to the top of the bluff and continued to watch the feeding dragons. Bit by bit they ate the entire goat carcass, even the bones, until nothing remained but a bloody rope. Then, sated, they slithered off back into the jungle one by one until only several remained, warming themselves in the afternoon sun. This was definitely one of the great wildlife adventures one could have. It is only for travelers willing to forego luxury to see something extraordinary. |
Photos of Komodo Dragons, beagles, Tahiti, Samoa, and other aspects of the good life.
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May, 2012
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