A lizard{s tale

Other than iguanas I haven’t written too much about lizards.  Well I have lizards!  I have lizards in the house, on the patio, in the upstairs yard, the downstairs yard, all the way down the hill to Bill’s casa and both on and inside Dod.  I really like lizards.  They are fun to watch and, bless their hearts, they eat bugs!

I think there may be as many as a dozen different type of lizard here.  I cannot go out without one or two running for cover.  They range in size from about 4” (full grown) to well over 12”.  I am excluding iguanas here as they grow to nearly 5’.

The smallest variety live in the palapa covering the dining patio.  At 4” I figured they were just young until I saw the male display.  He has a pouch under his chin that he expands until it about the size and shape of a quarter.  It is bright orange with variegated white stripes.  The second clue that he is full grown came when I carried my dinner out to the dining patio and couldn’t use the table as the little guy and his girlfriend had commandeered the space.  I can hardly wait for the babies; how small will they be?

One way I have identified several varieties of lizard is with my unintended lizard trap.  For some reason they get stuck in the bottom of the bath tub (no water) and they are unable to climb out.  I tired of lifting them out so I built a lizard (and frog) escape ramp using a piece of wire mesh.  I haven’t found a lizard in the tub since!

One of the most numerous varieties here is the gecko.  Is the gecko a lizard?  Geckos are all over the house living in tight spaces near the floor and also high up in the palapa roof.  You can’t always see them but you can sure hear them.  They make a chirp-chirp-chirp noise and I assume they are looking for a mate as they sing out.  I have a permanent resident gecko in Dod and two or three that live on the outside of Dod.  I think these are the smart ones.  Each night as I am laying in my bunk reading, geckos appear on both side windows.  As the bugs are attracted to my reading light and bounce of the windows, the geckos chase them down.  It is really something to watch.

And, finally, an iguana tale.  The baby green iguanas started showing up a couple of months ago.  I see them all over but am never quite sure if I have seen five iguanas in a single day or one iguana five times.  Last week I was sitting in the front room reading and as I glanced out the door I say one of these babies (about 8” long) casually strolling along the top of the wall.  The babies generally stroll and are not even frightened as you approach them.  All of a sudden, the little guy took off like “a bat out of hell” and ran all the way past the bath tub and hopped off the wall.  I had never seen one move so fast and by careful observation I quickly determined the reason for his haste.  At the spot where he had climbed up the wall there was a 3’ to 4’ garter snake climbing up after him.