I’ve been taking Backyard Zoology very literally recently. I’ve been pretty much housebound the last month or two and so my hiking boots have been replaced with thongs and slippers and my adventures consist of a quick look around the yard and an amble around the street. I’m no longer packing for a few hours or the unexpected, but rather wandering out, coffee in one hand, leaving the other free to turn over leaves. And, you know what? It’s been a really lovely reminder of all the life that continues to tick over, even when we’re not paying attention.

We’ve had a couple of large Eastern Water Dragons move into the backyard. That in itself is a bit of a surprise. In previous years, they’ve hung around the front yard, the dogs’ regular forays out the back keeping them on the other side of the fence. Not only do we have two of these reptiles, but they’re both males. It’s a small yard for a territorial animal, but they are managing, the younger one spending a lot of time sunning itself, legs stretched out in a tree, while the other has commandeered our old barbecue pit.

Turns out, neither of them can resist the lure of the Metallic Shield Bugs, which have also made our yard their home (Dr Chris Reid wrote about these bugs in the February issue). The bugs have turned up in pretty big numbers, which they seem to most summers, to feed on the tree roots that twist up and out of the yard.

I’ve spent more time than I care to admit, watching these vibrant green jewels buzzing around the yard, bouncing off of the clothes hanging on the line, crawling across the ground, and finally all seemingly settling on the same tree root. How do they choose? And then how do they convey the message that ‘This is the one, guys, today we feast on this root’? However they do it, they extend their proboscis and pierce the root, mostly lined up in a heads-down, bum-up kind of way.

And then the lizards sidle up. If both males are in the same area, a series of frenetic head bobs will take place, a puffed-up throat and a leg wave or two, a lizard warning if you will. But their focus remains on the free feed. The bugs, while they don’t move, are safe. The lizards watch and wait, the young one turning its head at an angle, its eyes searching for any movement at all. And the first bug that moves, that decides to get into a better position to feed? It’s snatched up, crunched by sharp, reptile teeth.

It’s an eat-and-be-eaten world, out there.