Monday, June 23, 2008

Little Lizards

New Mexico LizardOne of the charming features of my yard in Santa Fe is that several little lizards live here (or at least visit frequently). They can sometimes be seen sunning themselves on a stucco wall, but more often they are darting across the yard at 90 miles an hour--clearly distressed by my presence.

That's why it was so phenomenal to find this little guy (or gal?) posing for the camera this week. I first noticed the underbelly from the inside of the screen, and was able to get my camera, get outdoors, focus, and snap a couple of photos before I scared him (her?) off.

I'm not very good at lizard identification--I first thought it might be a New Mexican whiptail, but now I'm waffling on that claim. (The whiptail is an interesting lizard because there are only females--they reproduce by essentially cloning themselves.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is a sceloporus rigatus - a striped plateau lizard

SantaFeKate said...

Thanks for the identification!

Peggie said...

Hi, Santa Fe Kate! I am having problems with these lizards eating the new spring growth of some of my plants right down to the grown. They especially like Storm Border Lilies. Do you have any suggestions for control?
Thanks,
Peggie

SantaFeKate said...

Gosh Peggie--I haven't noticed this. You probably have much more succulent plants than I do!!

ScotM said...

Are you sure it is not rabbits who are eating your plants? If I am not mistaken, these guys (Striped Plateau Lizards) consume bugs, not plants. Perhaps you have the wrong culprit!