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Oh my! Another fence lizard pic!
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
So spiny! Cute! The ones around here are really enjoyable to watch as well.
Fence lizards are actually very personable.
I know I have told these stories before, but here goes.
During a particularly dry spell, Connie was going around with a cup of water for some plants she had recently planted. One was at the base of a large pine tree, and while she was pouring water onto the plant's roots, a fence lizard came running down the tree and stuck his head into the cup to get a drink of water. She was astonished! She came and got me and when she tried duplicating that event, sure enough the lizard did it again while I was watching.
During another time when I was breeding gray banded kingsnakes, I had a real good year with hatchlings and all those little devils were just refusing to take pinky mice. So I became desperate and figured I needed a fence lizard to scent the pinkies with. I knew I had one at the back of the house that could always be seen sunning himself on the concrete base of the house. So, regretfully, I decided I needed to catch him and freeze him to use as scenting for the baby gray bands. I walked on back there, and yep, there he was, as usual. So I walked up to him slowly, all the time muttering, "you better run! You better get out of here!" But he didn't budge, just watching me approach. I reached out my hand slowly thinking that would scare him off, but nope, he just watched me. Obviously I was hoping he would prove to be too fast for slow poke me. But he just was not cooperating. Finally I just stuck my finger towards his head and rubbed him underneath his chin. Didn't move a muscle, and actually closed his eyes like he was enjoying it. I just couldn't do it! I jumped into the Bronco and ran out into the forest to find a lizard that wasn't OUR lizard. Honestly, that is the reason I eventually got rid of all the gray bands. Truth be known, I liked the fence lizards far more than them.
Last Summer and Fall we had a fence lizard that was always to be seen on one of the oak trees lining our driveway. Connie and I would always walk past him and stop to talk at him for a bit. There was a peculiar depression in the tree's bark that the lizard just liked to rest his head in, so he was always on that same tree in that same position. Eventually Winter set in, and one night it was supposed to drop below freezing. And yet that day before, our "tree lizard" was still there and it was cooling down rapidly as late afternoon deepened. Connie has a bunch of pineapple plants growing nearby that we were going to cover for the night, so we decided we needed to try to save this lizard before he froze to death on his tree. So I gently put my hand over him, put my fingers underneath his belly and pulled him off the tree bark. He didn't struggle at all. I carried him over to the pineapple plants and honestly had a tougher time getting him out of my warm hand than I did getting him off of the tree. Covered the pineapple plants with a frost cloth and a tarp for the night, and hoped for the best. Next morning when we uncovered the plants when the temps rose over 50 degrees, the "tree lizard" ran out from underneath part of one of the pineapple plants and just stared at me. So I reached down, and with a slight bit of coaxing, got him to climb onto my hand. I carried him back over to his tree, and put him back in his favorite spot. Eventually he vanished, and unfortunately, we haven't seen him since. So we really don't know what happened to him afterwards. But we still look for him whenever we walk by that tree.
We have them scattered all over our property now. Babies have hatched out and we see them here and there. Honestly, we wouldn't mind having thousands of them running around here.
I know I have told these stories before, but here goes.
During a particularly dry spell, Connie was going around with a cup of water for some plants she had recently planted. One was at the base of a large pine tree, and while she was pouring water onto the plant's roots, a fence lizard came running down the tree and stuck his head into the cup to get a drink of water. She was astonished! She came and got me and when she tried duplicating that event, sure enough the lizard did it again while I was watching.
During another time when I was breeding gray banded kingsnakes, I had a real good year with hatchlings and all those little devils were just refusing to take pinky mice. So I became desperate and figured I needed a fence lizard to scent the pinkies with. I knew I had one at the back of the house that could always be seen sunning himself on the concrete base of the house. So, regretfully, I decided I needed to catch him and freeze him to use as scenting for the baby gray bands. I walked on back there, and yep, there he was, as usual. So I walked up to him slowly, all the time muttering, "you better run! You better get out of here!" But he didn't budge, just watching me approach. I reached out my hand slowly thinking that would scare him off, but nope, he just watched me. Obviously I was hoping he would prove to be too fast for slow poke me. But he just was not cooperating. Finally I just stuck my finger towards his head and rubbed him underneath his chin. Didn't move a muscle, and actually closed his eyes like he was enjoying it. I just couldn't do it! I jumped into the Bronco and ran out into the forest to find a lizard that wasn't OUR lizard. Honestly, that is the reason I eventually got rid of all the gray bands. Truth be known, I liked the fence lizards far more than them.
Last Summer and Fall we had a fence lizard that was always to be seen on one of the oak trees lining our driveway. Connie and I would always walk past him and stop to talk at him for a bit. There was a peculiar depression in the tree's bark that the lizard just liked to rest his head in, so he was always on that same tree in that same position. Eventually Winter set in, and one night it was supposed to drop below freezing. And yet that day before, our "tree lizard" was still there and it was cooling down rapidly as late afternoon deepened. Connie has a bunch of pineapple plants growing nearby that we were going to cover for the night, so we decided we needed to try to save this lizard before he froze to death on his tree. So I gently put my hand over him, put my fingers underneath his belly and pulled him off the tree bark. He didn't struggle at all. I carried him over to the pineapple plants and honestly had a tougher time getting him out of my warm hand than I did getting him off of the tree. Covered the pineapple plants with a frost cloth and a tarp for the night, and hoped for the best. Next morning when we uncovered the plants when the temps rose over 50 degrees, the "tree lizard" ran out from underneath part of one of the pineapple plants and just stared at me. So I reached down, and with a slight bit of coaxing, got him to climb onto my hand. I carried him back over to his tree, and put him back in his favorite spot. Eventually he vanished, and unfortunately, we haven't seen him since. So we really don't know what happened to him afterwards. But we still look for him whenever we walk by that tree.
We have them scattered all over our property now. Babies have hatched out and we see them here and there. Honestly, we wouldn't mind having thousands of them running around here.
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
Those are some really sweet stories!
I thought I had mentioned "tree lizard" before....
https://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147480
https://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147480
hypnoctopus
Olivia Barron
You know, I don't think I've ever seen one shedding. Do they eat their sheds like some species?