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| A juvenile Dussumier's litter skink I photographed in 2009. |
"Arana" (Malayalam for skink) was one of the very first reptiles I identified around my house. In most other parts of peninsular India, a common skink would most probably be a Brahminy skink (Eutropis carinata), a much larger and less colourful species. But for me as a kid, the vernacular name Arana always referred to a small skink with bright orange-red tail.
Scientifically called Sphenomorphus dussumieri (Dussumier's litter skink), they were common around my house, giving me ample opportunities to observe them. They are alert, but curious little creatures. They would often come to investigate if some one was doing something in the yard, like watering the plants. My brother once even managed to feed them cooked rice!
The days have been somewhat hot and dry. I have been seeing one of these small skinks living among the flower pots in our tiny garden. Today morning, I decided to try to get some photos of that one. As I was photographing, I noticed that it was sucking the sap out of a broken branch of a small Elephant's ear plant (Colocasia sp.). It kept on sucking for about half a minute before getting out of the hot sun. I've seen them drinking water eagerly from leaves after I water the plants in the evening during summer months, but this is the first time that I saw one drinking the sap from a plant.
Scientifically called Sphenomorphus dussumieri (Dussumier's litter skink), they were common around my house, giving me ample opportunities to observe them. They are alert, but curious little creatures. They would often come to investigate if some one was doing something in the yard, like watering the plants. My brother once even managed to feed them cooked rice!
The days have been somewhat hot and dry. I have been seeing one of these small skinks living among the flower pots in our tiny garden. Today morning, I decided to try to get some photos of that one. As I was photographing, I noticed that it was sucking the sap out of a broken branch of a small Elephant's ear plant (Colocasia sp.). It kept on sucking for about half a minute before getting out of the hot sun. I've seen them drinking water eagerly from leaves after I water the plants in the evening during summer months, but this is the first time that I saw one drinking the sap from a plant.
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| Dussumier's litter skink after drinking sap from the plant. I couldn't capture it in the act, as by the time I got the camera, it was done drinking. |
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