This is a blue-tongue skink (of the genus Tiliqua) - which is a common inhabitant of our gardens, yards, patios, and parks here in Brisbane.
There's a lot to love about these little lizards ...
they readily habituate to humans - making them great pets; they eat caterpillars, snails, and other garden-munchers; they can live for up to 20 years; they have live babies (as opposed to laying eggs, like many lizards); and they have an endearing fondness for bananas.
Female blue-tongues have strong site fidelity - meaning that they don't move around very much once they set up a homebase somewhere. Males, on the other hand, tend to move longer distances - even more than 2 kms - in search of mate-worthy females (and they may mate with several of them in a year).
This kind of mating strategy helps prevent any inbreeding from taking place ... with all the moving around that males are doing, they're less likely to encounter (and mate with) a blue-tongue they're closely related to.
(Hey, it can happen! Especially for a lizard ... or a hillbilly).
Blue-tongues are susceptible to being attacked by dogs or cats - or cars, for that matter - because they're pretty much all bark and no bite. When approached, they puff up, hiss, display their lovely blue tongue, and even if they did manage to chomp down on your dog's nose (or your finger), it wouldn't do much damage at all.
Great, aren't they? If you want to encourage more blue-tongues to visit your garden, give them a variety of plants and rocks and foliage and wood to hide under (and hunt insects around). Try to train your dog or cat not to attack them. And when you see one, use it as an opportunity to get your kids/parents/friends/etc excited about wildlife.
Because that's where conservation starts.
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