324 
Auffenberg 
Figure 14. Top, schematic of successful attack by 
a 42 kg monitor (19W) upon a 45 kg(ca) doe 
deer, described in text. Bottom, conditions of 
successful attack on 27 kg (ca) deer by a large 
monitor. May 24, 1970. Lizard pallet — area 
scratched free of ground litter in which the 
monitor lay in ambush adjacent and parallel to 
the game trail. After it was killed, the deer was 
dragged by the monitor back to the attack site, 
where the entire carcass, was eventually con- 
sumed. 
shown in Fig. 15. Its path of travel makes it 
obvious that all the potential sleeping sites 
were known to the monitors. Resident ani- 
mals know the location of game trails, water- 
ing holes, and other topographic features 
important in their feeding strategy. The 
importance of such information is obvious — 
those individuals possessing it are more suc- 
cessful predators than those that lack it. De- 
tailed knowledge of the large activity ranges 
of adult monitors demands a depth of ex- 
perience obtainable only after long residence. 
Indeed, this is probably the major benefit of 
Figure 15. Afternoon foraging behavior of 19W 
within its core area. Its path suggests it is 
familiar with the location of thickets (black areas) 
in the monsoon forest (white areas). See text 
for discussion. 
permanent residency. Some adult monitors, 
known by their peculiar markings, have lived 
in relatively small areas for periods as long 
as 15 years. 
Though we do not know to what extent 
experience is important in determining the 
proportion of certain prey eaten by Komodo 
dragons, it is quite likely that inexperience 
or former successes and failures of an indi- 
vidual affect not only the area in which it 
hunts, but the prey hunted and even the 
technique utilized. Elsewhere (Auffenberg, 
1973, MS), I have commented on the varia- 
tion in attacks of adult monitors on live- 
stock in different savannas. The proportion 
of different types of livestock taken in these 
savannas is believed largely due to the be- 
havioral peculiarities of resident Komodo 
monitors and not to the proportion of domes- 
tic species available. The physical and psy- 
chological characteristics of individual large 
mammalian predators (such as man-eating 
lions) are recognized as extremely important. 
Except for crocodilians, the same factors in 
reptilian predators remain largely unappre- 
