et les , ▁m oll us cs ▁and ▁orth opter ans . ▁Mill ip edes ▁for ▁example ▁form ▁nearly ▁a ▁quarter ▁of ▁their ▁di et ; ▁the ▁mon itors ▁are ▁apparently ▁resist ant ▁to ▁its ▁poison ous ▁secret ions . ▁They ▁are ▁not ▁a verse ▁to ▁occasionally ▁sc av eng ing ▁the ▁corps es ▁of ▁verte br ate ▁pre y , ▁even ▁those ▁as ▁large ▁as ▁ver vet ▁mon keys , ▁which ▁are ▁sometimes ▁torn ▁to ▁pieces ▁by ▁" de ath ▁rolling " ▁like ▁a ▁cro cod ilian ▁prior ▁to ▁consumption . ▁Live ▁verte br ate ▁pre y ▁other ▁than ▁tort o ises ▁are ▁usually ▁too ▁fast ▁to ▁catch ▁for ▁these ▁mon itors , ▁and ▁therefore ▁form ▁very ▁little ▁of ▁their ▁di et . ▁This ▁contrast s ▁with ▁what ▁is ▁often ▁a ▁di et ▁of ▁mostly ▁verte br ates ▁in ▁capt ivity , ▁such ▁as ▁rod ents ▁or ▁p oul try . ▁ ▁Int elligence ▁An ▁intellig ent ▁l izard , ▁several ▁spec im ens ▁of ▁V . ▁al big ular is ▁have ▁demonstrated ▁the ▁ability ▁to ▁count ▁as ▁high ▁as ▁six ▁in ▁an ▁experiment ▁conducted ▁by ▁Dr . ▁John ▁Phili ps ▁at ▁the ▁San ▁Diego ▁Z oo ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 9 . ▁ ▁Phili ps ▁offered ▁varying ▁numbers ▁of ▁sn ails , ▁and ▁the ▁mon itors ▁were ▁able ▁to ▁distinguish ▁numbers ▁whenever ▁one ▁was ▁missing . ▁ ▁Geographic ▁range ▁V . ▁al big ular is ▁is ▁found ▁in ▁Central ▁Africa ▁( D em ocr atic ▁Republic ▁of ▁the ▁Congo /