Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus)

The Nile monitor grows to 6 feet. It is dark brown-black with pale to yellow bands and spots forming broken cross bands on the body. It is distributed in Africa except the northwest. It stays close to water, and can dive for up to one hour. It is very agile on land and in the water. It is diurnal. Monitors tend to swallow their prey whole, like snakes. Monitors are daytime lizards and most species actively search for food. Some species eat carrion, giant land snails, grasshoppers, beetles, whip scorpions, crocodile and birds; eggs, crabs, fish, other lizards, snakes, nestling birds, shrews and squirrels.