Sunday 30 June 2013

Lizard in trouble

When awaiting the rain I placed an old enamel wash bowl in one corner of the outbuilding hoping it would be filled with water draining from the gutter (the last photo of my previous post here). Having some rain water closer to the pansies and other plants in the yard would save me a few walks with the watering can to the tap by the house.


It turned out to be not such a good idea for one of our protected species. My husband noticed a common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) sunbathing, or so we thought, in the bowl. It wasn’t moving and we stepped closer. We could see that the skin was starting to cast from its tail.


The close-ups reveal it is a male: there is a bulge at the base of its tail and its head is slightly wider from the neck.

We soon realized the lizard was not staying at the bottom of the wash bowl of its own free will but because the inside of the bowl was so slippery it couldn’t climb out. We flipped the bowl a bit and it was free to disappear into the vegetation. Fortunately, we hadn’t shocked it so much it would have shed its tail.

I am just wondering. How did it know we weren’t dangerous? I read common lizards may live up to 10 years so it isn’t entirely impossible it recognized us, the friendly residents of the place, the owners of the furious beast terrorizing the neighbourhood.



8 comments:

  1. I didn't know that lizard could lose their tail out of shock. Amazing pictures.

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    1. I've understood whenever they feel their life is in danger they are able to get rid of the tail to confuse the attacker. Perhaps it was aware that wouldn't have helped this time because it couldn't have fled from the bowl anyway.

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  2. Todella hienoja kuvia. Niissä on kaunis sinertävä sävy. Ja onneksi tosiaan se ei joutunut tiputtamaan häntäänsä.

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    1. "Perin" miehen digijärkkärin, kun hän osti itselleen uuden, ja olen alkanut hiukan harjoitella. Sattuman kauppaahan tulos vielä on, mutta harjoittelu on mukavaa.

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  3. Sweet gekko sweet! And keep the mosquitos away;)

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  4. Great pictures of the lizard. It has such a long tail. I hope it is now safe, your cat doesn't look like a beast in those pictures!
    Sarah x

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    1. But he is quite a predator in a split of a second if he notices something interesting. This summer he already killed a viper not to mention the less deadly small ones he carries to the porch for us every once in a while. A cat, however spoiled, just can't help its nature I'm afraid.

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