of the crocodile, the largest quadruped reptiles in Africa. At the approach 
of man they will run swiftly into the bush or clamber into a tree, for years 
of persecution have made them extremely wary. It is, indeed, the monitor’s 
misfortune to be hunted for an uncommon number of reasons. Its tough 
hide is used not only for leather, but also for the manufacture of native 
musical instruments; it preys on poultry; the natives erroneously believe 
its bite to be poisonous; some Africans roast it for food; and, to make 
matters worse for it, the melted fat of its reproductive organs is considered 
an unfailing cure for earache. The fishermen on Lake Victoria Nyanza 
flay monitors alive, as the skin, in this manner, comes off more easily. 
Only when cornered will the great reptile turn and fight, brandishing 
its long, razor-edged tail like a whip. As a last resort, it may eject an 
evil-smelling mess from its cloaca. 
Actually the monitor is most beneficial to humans, for it feeds largely 
on crocodile eggs and young man-eating crocodiles. Other items on its diet 
are rats, mice, toads, insects, and birds surprised on its arboreal excur¬ 
sions. The monitor is a fierce fighter, breaking its victim’s spine with its 
teeth and claws. 
This lizard’s eggs are invariably laid in termites’ nests, in sets of 
approximately twenty-four. Of a dull white color, they are two and one-half 
inches long and one and one-half inches wide. The mother tunnels into the 
center of the nest and there deposits her eggs. Many of the eggs are destroyed 
by temperature conditions, by ants who like to share a part of their own nest, 
and by burrowing aardvarks which live on the ants. The incubation period is 
apparently ten months long, and the young are born in November. At this 
time, the escaping egg-liquid softens the surrounding clay, permitting the 
young lizards to dig a vertical passage to the surface. In thirteen days the 
young assume a yellow and black color which serves to camouflage them 
among the reeds by the riverbank. They are exceedingly active and pug¬ 
nacious if disturbed. At the end of one month they begin to take on their 
adult coloring. 
In the cool season of the year, monitors are seldom seen. 
Varanus exanthematicus, another African monitor, is remarkable for 
its habit of rolling on its back when frightened, putting one hind foot in its 
mouth and lying motionless until the danger has passed. 
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