My camera shoots fascistsFinally got a video of the zebra tailed lizard. It came back and took the mealworm a moment later. Flicking their tail like that is very characteristic of them. This one is still a bit skittish but eventually takes worms from my hand.
Just look at this handsome critter! These desert iguanas are my favorite of the yard lizards. I think today it was a little spooked by the bright blue Band-Aid on my thumb.
Unfortunately I have to leave for California soon so I won't be around to see how tame it will get. But this is the third year it's been around, so hopefully it'll still be here in August when I get back.
I always whistle when feeding the lizards, at least when first training them. Some don't seem to care much and respond more to me kneeling down and putting my hand on the ground. Others will just come up to me looking for food. A couple of the spiny lizards (including the one I think is Bill from last fall) will run across the yard if I whistle. I think this iguana will eventually respond to whistling.
One thing I'm really curious about is whether they are making the humans=food association with me personally or with anyone. Once one of them gets really tame, I'll have someone else try to get close or call them over.
(hashtagging these with #LizardReport so you can mute them if you get tired of me posting lizard pictures and videos 😂)
Today's #LizardReport
Everybody was present and fed well with mealworms that I brought from Tucson when I went there for the protest yesterday, except for the big iguana. He was nowhere to be seen today.
The little tiger whiptail saw me, came running across the yard, grabbed a couple worms, then jumped up on me. It was climbing around on my shoulders and my head and was quite content to let me hold it. Adorable little creature.
(I've tried to keep all these lizard posts as a thread, but it seems to have broken up.)
#LizardReport
Bill, or at least the one I'm calling Bill because I'm not 100% sure it's the same one as last fall, came over and I made him climb up on my leg to get fed. I wanted to get a close look at his face. It turns out he seems to have some glochids stuck next to his eye. Look close at his left eye. Glochids are those tiny hair like micro thorns some cactus having an abundance. I have a patch of Opuntia microdasys and they are fuzzy with glochids, but no thorns.
I debated grabbing him and tweezering the spines out but I was afraid it would spook him and he would never be my friend again. If they're still there tomorrow, I may do it because I'm about to leave for a few months anyway.
Poor Bill!
Their personalities are so funny. The tiny little baby spiny lizard that lives on the wall will run right up to me to take worms but there's a slightly bigger one, that at first I thought might be Harriet, at the far end of the wall that runs away when I get within 30 feet.
The whiptail is super friendly and will climb all over me, while Bill will hang out nearby and climb on me to get fed, but always jumps down and hangs out a few feet away.
I got the zebra tail lizard to climb up on my leg and take worms, but only very hesitantly and it would immediately jump down with the worm and runoff to eat it.
I really hope they're all here when I get back in August. Such an adorable little menagerie.
#LizardReport
Now the tiny baby spiny lizard that lives on top of the low wall is getting finicky and only wants live mealworms. Little brat, just like the one that lives under the chair on the porch.
I went out into the yard and put down my hand filled with dried mealworms and the whiptail came up and chowed down happily. That's the one that climbs on me. Meanwhile the zebra tail watched but seemed a little confused that someone else was getting all the food. Then Bill heard me whistle and came running across the yard and he and the zebra tail got into a puffing match for a few seconds. The whiptail just kept eating. The baby lizard on the wall saw all the commotion and ran up to the edge and sat there, probably expecting me to come up and hand feed it like usual.
Still haven't seen the iguana today.
Bill still has the stickers by his eye, so before I leave I may use the last of the live mealworms to lure him up onto the porch where I can grab him and remove the stickers with tweezers.
#LizardReport
This is my little porch lizard buddy who, after almost 5 months of hand feeding, is still skittish. They're kind of like cats in that they do the most adorable things to get comfortable sometimes, even when they look, to us, to be extremely uncomfortable. It's warming up in the sun. In a few minutes the porch will get too warm and it will start hanging out in the shade.
This is the finicky one who will eat live mealworms from my hand all day but turns up its nose at the freeze dried ones. (The baby one over on the wall is the same way.) For the last couple days, I've left a handful of dried ones behind the chair and they disappeared, but my suspicions were just confirmed when a thrasher (local bird) made repeat trips to the porch, sneaking around behind the chair to eat them.
#LizardReport
Oh, and I see Bill just got up and is sitting in a little patch of sun over in his log pile. He's fine with dried mealworms so I'll go get him some. I have to leave in the next 48 hours or less, so I'm saving the last of the live mealworms for the iguana if I see it.
Oh, and I see Bill just got up and is sitting in a little patch of sun over in his log pile. He's fine with dried mealworms so I'll go get him some. I have to leave in the next 48 hours or less, so I'm saving the last of the live mealworms for the iguana if I see it.
One last #LizardReport before I leave for the season. I hadn't seen Bill in a couple days but this morning he was up on the porch. He even came in the house a couple times. I normally let them come in and wander around when the door is open, but I had to make sure to shoo him out because I don't want him to get stuck when I leave.
He and my little porch buddy got into this strange behavior multiple times this morning and I managed to catch it once on video. The little one squirms under Bill's belly. Any #herpetologist that can explain this behavior? Given the season, I'm guessing it's some kind of courtship. I'm also guessing that "little guy" who lives under the chair on the porch might actually be "little gal." She's looking kind of chubby. I assumed it was just fat from all the worms I've been feeding her but now I'm wondering if she's about to lay eggs.
Suzanne Aldrich (she/her)@Mikal omg they are so cute I love them look at all their cute personalities. They are like little scaly dogs.
It's true!
I'm going to miss them so much. I really hope the iguana will stay around. I want to convince it to hang out on the porch with me. Or maybe Harriet will show back up.
Cat West@Mikal Buddy Boy!