Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) which was sitting right in the way of traffic on the main track into the Breakaways Conservation Park, near Coober Pedy, South Australia. Because of the high risk of animal strikes in the outback, we were traveling slow enough to be able to stop safely. I got out of the car and ‘shoo-ed’ the lizard off the road, so it wouldn’t be hit by the traffic that was coming behind us.
Unfortunately, the default behaviour of these lizards when they see danger coming is to stay still and flatten themselves out, so as to look bigger. This doesn’t work so well with 4x4s coming at 100kph.
When I can, when it’s safe to do so, I’ll stop and try and get them to safety. The only way to avoid animal strikes when driving in the outback is to slow down. Swerving at speed doesn’t work, and can have disastrous consequences.
