This photo was taken at a crocodile farm in Bangkok. The wrestler looks like a nice enough guy, complete with a winning smile. So why, oh why, does the baser part of me wish so desperately for the crocodile to clamp down? What's wrong with me?

I was pondering this picture and trying to figure out why the crocodile was being so docile. Was it training? Tranquilizers? Then I saw the wad of cash in its mouth, and the illusion was dispelled. The curtain was pulled back, giving us a backstage pass on the operations. The crocodile's been bribed!

Grrr. I hate being disillusioned.

Photo source: Ben Visbeek

Why So Sinister

Photo source: Dorthe Arve Olsen
Geckos are supposed to be comical and endearing. They adorn t-shirts and are they're mascots. There's something wrong with having a gecko look so sinister.

Any idea what kind it might be? Maybe a leaf-tailed gecko of some variety (hard to tell with the tail, leafy or not, not in the photo)?

Anyways, I'm off to go renew my automobile insurance.

UPDATE: According to Anonymous, this is a Uroplatus sikorae, a mossy leaf tailed gecko.

Another Scary Gecko

Gah! Another scary gecko. This one is definitely a leaf-tailed gecko, though really the tail isn't the most remarkable part of this lizard. The alien eyes for instance. This hissing mouth for another.

Photo source: POPFi.com


Really, if you're trying to defend yourself, it doesn't help your jungle cred to be called a leaf-tailed anything. Especially not when your neighbors are called venomous blank, or army blank, or blank eater. Even a hissing blank is better.

I thought you all could use a gratuitous spread of crocodiles and alligators. Whether you consider them 'living fossils,' the bane of Captain Hook, or a platform from which to launch a dazzling TV career, these creatures might one day offer up profound medical advances (how do these oft-wounded swamp dwellers heal so well?).

Until then, they'll continue to be objects of conservation and curiosity, nuisances on Floridian golf courses, and the inspiration for myriad logos and mascots. And, of course, the stuff of nightmares.