Narrow escape

A  l-a-a-a-rge lizard (Tupinambismerianae, I believe - extra photo) was lucky to survive a meeting with Chacha today. Luckily. shouting at her and then grabbing her collar put her off and she let go long enough for me to bundle her into the car. Kayla was interested, which probably didn't contribute to its peace of mind, but she's not a killer. The poor chap was trying to get through a fence mesh that was far too small for anything but his head, a repeat of a similar situation at home a couple of weeks ago, except that our fence is older and has gaps in it. I let Chacha out further down and went back to see if the lizard was still stuck. Fortunately, he had escaped, so as long as he doesn't die of fright ... Strangely, there was another, even bigger lizard at the top of our drive when we got home. Luckily Chacha was running on the other side of the car and didn't see it.
 
We were warned to take the long route back to Rio this afternoon, as a police helicopter was supposedly shot down yesterday in City of God, killing four policemen, the police reacted by killing seven alleged bandits, and the gangs have sworn to create chaos in various parts of Rio. According to tonight's news, however, no bullet marks have yet been found on either the policemen or the helicopter. It's a grim situation, though. Eighty-four members of the police force have been assassinated in Rio so far this year.
 
The Tupinambis loses out to the Sago palm (Cycas circinalis) for today's photo.I can't resist it's strange shapes and patterns. Seems mockingbirds are keen on it too. When I went back for more photos, two of them were busily pecking away at its heart and were soon joined by a third. Couldn't get close enough for a decent photo with the mobile, though.