Monitor Intellegence

[kap10cavy]

I don't have the experience the bush beaters have but I just get amazed out how smart these critters are.
Some examples are the way my savs and my albig handles crawdads. The savs will find a place to hide between the crawdads and the water tub and ambush them from behind.
My albig will slowly crawl, staying low to the ground until it gets close enough to attack. He/ she will grab one claw and shake like mad until that claw seperates from the crawdad, it then repeats the process and after both claws are eaten it just calmly walks up and eats the rest. The critter has learned a new trick with dealing with quail. It will ambush the quail and drag it to it's water tub and take it under and drown it before eating. Why it does this, I have no idea.
I also remember an article I was reading at a doctors office, I don't remember the magizine and never got to finish the article.
Maybe mark will know more about this. It was about a large group
of monitor that would climb the same trees twice every year to catch migrating birds that stopped there every year. Of course I would assume the largest and oldest got the first pick of branches to wait on. It did say there was some skirmishes with younger lizards wanting a branch someone was already on.

Scott

[Steeve B]

Don’t know much about varanids intelligence! But I can say this female took down the fast runner first. But theirs more the male inches in front kept an eye on the prey. It seemed like cooperation to me. I find all varanids behaviour fascinating

[Woodpusher]

That is fascinating! Is this the only time you have observed "cooperation" in your monitors?

[Steeve B]

No iv seen it a few times with salvadori and jobiensis, however it was also about food sharing, Monitors are more often in competition then cooperative, add to this the limited space we give them, this also limits the possibilities of other type of cooperation, I guess hunting and nest guarding can be expected cooperation in a larger set up.

[Woodpusher]

Interesting, thanks!