This is Angus. He is a blue-tongued skink, and you can see why. There are lots of different types of skinks; the blue-tongue is native to Australia. His tongue is blue as a defense mechanism; not to many animals are that brightly colored, and the ones who are are often venomous (think: poison dart frogs). But Angus is not venomous, so it’s a bluff. I like Angus, in spite of his kind of ornery personality. He reminds me a bit of Eeyore, from the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
I’m bummed that this shot isn’t more in focus, but it’s hard to know when a lizard is going to stick its tongue out and I’m not about to reach in there and pull it out; he may not be venomous, but he’s still got teeth!
What a handsome fellow, and such a pretty tongue!