4798. Photography: Friend or Foe? An Oriental Garden Lizard in Indonesia looks at me.

FRIEND OR FOE?

My last day in Bintan. I was walking past a patch of grass for dinner. A creature scurried across me. Too fast to see it. It looked like the big adult Oriental Garden Lizard. But it was camouflaged inside the hedge as you can see from the photos.

I screened the hedge where it had dived for cover. There was the body and tail not covered. The lightning flashed. A few drops of imminent thunderstorm. I should hasten to shelter to protect my camera from wetness. At least, to put it away inside my camera bag.

But this was the only sighting of an Oriental Garden Lizard in The Residence, Bintan. A sprawling complex of many house villas but no wildlife. No mosquitoes to bite me. A handful of small insects or flies. Nightly fumigation of the whole estate had wiped them out by pesticide poisoning.  So the guests do not complain and will refer others. 

 To shoot or not? The lizard did not move further. Why? It was eyeing me as to whether I was friend or foe?

Focus on tail/body junction. Canon R5, AV Mode, F/8, ISO 320, 1/40 sec. 16 May 2030.
The Residence Bintan, Indonesia.  To buy photo: www.shutterstock.com/g/toapayohvets

UPDATE:
https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2023/05/4798-photography-oriental-garden-lizard.html