Common Sun Skink

Scincidae; Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820). This skink is very common in the area where I live. It would be exaggeration to say that I see one every day, but I do see them so often that it rather feels as if it is daily. Most often, I will just get a glimpse of one in the front garden and it is gone in a heartbeat. I am sure that the skink always sees me before I see it and has worked out its escape strategy even before it sees my eyes looking in its direction. So, it is never taken by surprise. On the contrary, I am the one who is surprised and I think that the skink understands that (or at least senses it) and uses it to his advantage in making good his escape. In my encounter with this skink today, I was given a demonstration of its speed and climbing skills, but more interestingly, its superiority over me in its natural habitat. I saw it low down, on the trunk of of a tree, just above the roots. I had my camera in my hand because I was looking for my next PN spotting. The moment I saw it about 15 ft. away, I knew, as mentioned above that it had already seen me and I am sure we had "eye contact". Neither of us moved. I did not want to miss the opportunity of a picture or two. So, I tried to raise my camera as gently as possible, but the skink was having none of it. By the time I got a look into the view finder, it was gone. So I lowered the camera to give myself a chance to see where it went and there it was 20 ft. up in the tree, look down at me with an unmistakably smug expression. Oh, alright, I know the skink does not have facial expressions, but he somehow projected his smugness so that I would know my inferior standing in his realm. With his self-esteem satisfied and his safety assured, he climbed the rest of the way up at a leisurely pace, allowing me to take as many photos as I wanted.