A Copper Skink (we think)

After coming home from school today and eating about 3 kilos of lemon cake, Molly and Alfie found a sleeping moth on the couch and decided to make it their pet.

Of course first off a home had to be made for it. So I gave them an old Indian takeaway box which they took into the garden and filled with leaves and sticks, and then all of a sudden I realised Alfie had been bottom up on the deck for a long while staring at something.

I went to investigate and found a little lizard peeping out from between two planks on our deck.

It wasn’t very long ago at all that our desert dwelling children thought nothing of sunbathing lizards, but having not seen one for 6 months now the novelty is back on again. They proceeded to spend the best part of two hours sitting on the deck watching it and willing it to come out.

Alfie put a dish of water out, then went around the house collecting dead flies and moths and put them in a pile next to the dish.

Meanwhile, not knowing so much about lizards in NZ, I got on the phone to our handy contact at the Department of Conservation to find out more information. The comedy master himself advised me that because they are a protected species I was to call the police.

Telephone in hand, I was poised and ready to call 111 when a Skype message popped up on the computer:

ha ha ha ha ha

NO

not really.

Yeah, funny Jake.

 As he is clearly unable to advise on any native wildlife, despite working for such a prestigious Government department, I did my own research. Using his own organisation’s website. It was a Copper Skink. I think.