OzOne wrote:
They are pretty awesome.
The surprising part is how fast they move on land.
It lookesto me like they push forward with their tail, so the whole
front of their body is airborne.

Yes, they have tremendous ability to leap, lunge, and can hit the ground
running to sprint for short distances. They exceed alligators in this
ability by a lot and apparently also have better eyesight and a wider
range of prey.

I used to putter around a lot in north-eastern Florida in the creeks and
swamps, got used to being around alligators. They don't bother you if
you're in a small boat or even a canoe... OTOH it sounds to me like you
do *not* hang around sal****er crocs.

We went on an eco-tour some years back that included Komodo Island,
seeing the huge monitor lizards. They are awesome. But they also only go
after certain types of prey under certain conditions... we were always
accompanied by at least two rangers. The dragons seemed to barely notice
us... although when my wife crouched down to take a picture of one from
a low angle, the dragon (about 15 feet away) definitely took notice and
started toward her. They also reacted to goat imitations... the rangers
did this, not me! They thought it was funny.

Anyway, what I was going to say is that the sal****er croc range extends
both sides of Komodo & Rincha, where the giant monitors live. I wonder
how much their habitats overlap, we were told that the dragons cannot
compete against other predators.

Regards
Doug King