Dhub is a form of
lizard that can only be found in the
Arabian
peninsula deserts.
Its average length is some 30
centimeters from head to tail. Dhubs live inside holes they dig in the desert which can vary in depth between 3
meters to 5 meters, some times, it would dig tunnels with multiple entries, a Dhub would enter at one point and emerge some 50 meters in another point. With the combination of its need for a low
calorie diet and its low
metabolism, this creature of the sand can live at weeks end with out any food. It never drinks water in its life time, infact, the best way to kill it is by letting it drink water, it will simply drown! All its water needs are met by the plants it consumes or by the humidity in the air.
Dhub is a delicacy among the Arabian
bedawins in the peninsula, I was offered a chance to eat it and to tell you the truth, it tasted kind of like chicken. It has white meat. Is it healthy eating lizards I hear you yell? Based on
Islamic teachings: "thou shall not eat flesh eating animals, thou shall eat grass eating animals." Based on this alone, bedawins justify that eating dhubs isn't such a bad thing. You can either boil it or roast it, I never tried frying it with oil. Most of the meat can be found in its armored tail.
One of the most popular ways to catch Dhubs these days is by hooking one end of the hose to the car's exhaust pipe and hook the other end to the Dhub's lair, and simply fill its lair with smoke, this causes Dhubs to exit their holes. It was proven to be the fastest and effecient way to catch Dhubs that hide inside holes, diging its hole is both time consuming and exhausting.
Other than humans as its natural predators, this creature lies way down on the
food chain, its only natural predators are
eagles and
foxes.