The Monitor Lizard on the ceiling.



Mango wood bowl.

 It must have been a day or two after my arriving here that I was sitting on the veranda, waking up. Suddenly I heard a loud scuttling noise beneath my feet, and out from under the wooden planks scurried a great big monitor lizard. It was over 3 ft and very fat. It made it's way over the veranda to the other side and continued through the screen door, which easily gave way. I was at first taken aback, but soon gave a shout to the maid, so that she knew the creature was in the house. She gave a yelp, and with the lizard sitting on the printer, she climbed a chair and brandished a mop at it. Fortunately, the reptile decided that this was not where he wanted to be, and took the same route out of the house and back under the veranda.
It was only then that I heard the scratching on the ceiling in the evenings but I could hardly imagine that such a big animal was walking over the space between the roof and the ceiling. Mr. Sweetie was called, the general maintenance man, and I don't know if his name is Sweetie, but it certainly sounds like it. He came with a little bamboo cage with some aged chicken to entice the lizard into his trap. The lizard I saw would not fit in there, that I knew. Holes in the garden were filled and more precautions were taken. The family settled back into their normal routine, and at night we listened to the scratching. In the meantime, the trap stood outside with it's lure, letting off a foul smell. According to me, it was foul enough to entice a monitor lizard. But who am I, where lizards are concerned?
About three days later there was much hoopla outside and my sister-in-law grabbed a shovel and scooted the remainder of the lizard, that was sticking out, into the cage.
Once closed, we all peered in. It could not have been the 3 ft, fat lizard we had seen, because even the cage wasn't 3 ft. However, the maid came to the conclusion that the lizard must have lost weight in the meantime and was convinced that it was the same lizard. It's true that we haven't heard any scratching on the ceiling anymore.

Fleur and her friend peer into the cage.