A blue tongue lizard had taken up residence under the basketball hoop in the backyard, and I was going to lie in wait until it stuck its head out from the hideyhole entrance at the front of the hoop where I had seen him disappear a few days ago.
I like the thought of a wild creature adapting to its surroundings and was hoping he might become an addition to the family over time.
My mistake was mentioning the creature in front of the three young girls we had staying at our house last night.
Curiosity got the better of them this morning and they decided to have a look at the reptile.
The hoop we have is one of those plastic, bottom heavy types and the girls are aged 9-11.
You can tell where this story is going can't you?
Despite my husband Craig telling the trio to leave it alone, they made their way out to the backyard and proceeded to try to pull the hoop down so that the bottom would lift up and expose the lizard.
Unfortunately for the poor thing, the girl who had been holding the pole dropped it on the terrified creature's head, killing it.
Without going into detail, the three girls have been handed ongoing punishments and were given a verbal serve by two very unhappy adults.
I talked to them again about actions and consequences a few hours later and they were obviously quite shocked at the death of the lizard they were so curious about.
So today, instead of a photo of a shy blue-tongue lizard, this is a picture of the gravesite we made them dig for the lizard, and where he now lies.
I thought a lot about that lizard today.
Sorry little guy.
I recon that's a formative experience, Kelly. One the girls will never forget... Poor lizard, but maybe it will influence them in other ways down the track.
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