Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 26, 2011. My dog alerted me to something stirring in a bucket in the yard. I found a large 10-12" long (nose to tip of tail), very thin, Alligator Lizard. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
He was so thin, he may have been unable to escape the bucket for quite some time. I wonder if he's the same lizard who left his suit in a plant earlier this year.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 26, 2011. Once I started shooting photos, I noticed a 3" long lizard of another species who was trying to evade the Alligator Lizard.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 26, 2011. After several failed attempts at rescue with a garden trowell, and not wishing to be bitten by the large lizard, I placed a small branch in the bucket. The larger lizard used it to escape the minute I walked away. The tiny lizard refused the escape route. (Perhaps he did not want to meet the Alligator Lizard on the outside.) It had to be spilled out of the bucket, still alive, the next day.
Learn more about lizards on CalHerps.
