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Saturday, November 1, 2008

Busy Ms. Lizzie!


Susie--Digging In The Dirt-- mentioned in one of her comments that
she wished to see my lizard. This was after I'd commented on her
cute green one...I've never seen a green lizard in my backyard.
Browns or greyish are the ones we have here.
My bamboo 'grove' might be sparse but they're hosts to an amazing
number of tiny creatures. It's fascinating to see how these li'l
lives go about the serious business of living, all within or near
the bamboo. I hope you'll like going through these pictures.

The other day I was taking photos of wasps when this lizard made
its appearance. I'd never seen it before. It was busy basking in
the warmth of the afternoon sun but when I got too near, it vanished
beyond the wall! The 'busy' on the title of my post would be for
these reasons only! Busy basking and then doing the disappearing
act!!

During the rainy season, the tropical jungle look gets a little too
well-defined! Common garden lizards have a bright red/orange head
and throat during the mating season. Due to this they're also called,
mistakenly of course,'bloodsuckers'.
The orange tinge can be seen here (this photo was taken in August).
The bean vine makes a fine hammock for my bamboo-loving friend.

This photo was taken a few days ago. I didn't realise I'd taken
photos of a lizard shedding its skin. But when the photos were loaded
into the computer, I was in for a surprise. Lizards are supposed to
have puffy eyes just before the skin from the head starts to peel off.

Unlike snakes, lizards shed their skin in bits and this makes them
look rather ragged with strips of skin hanging loose before they
fall off. They also rub themselves against things to get rid of
peeling skin.
Enough of the flashbulb, she decides!

But I'm back there after a while. She's back too! Good girl!!

15 comments:

tina said...

Very interesting the puffy eyes on lizards. Busy basking in the sun is always a great way to be busy in the garden. Not sure the disappearing act though:)

Anonymous said...

She's obviously getting used to you being nearby. It is great to see wildlife amongst the garden plants - and know that you have done your best to make them feel at home.

Linda Lunda said...

Good Jobb photoing this quiq animals!
I think I have som photos of my lizards in my Thaigarden... they are possible the same as you have I think.
The lizards in Sweden are going to sleep now during the long wintercold.
Today we hade -5.5 degrees when we gott upp this morning... brrr....
The garden was coverd in frost! White and sparkling.
Linda

Linda Lunda said...

Hi Kanak... come and see my blogg today!
Im wrighting about you!
Linda

Unknown said...

Ah... Tina, now that you mention it--I should've stopped at busy basking...I think I got carried away by the title and just 'basking 'didn't sound busy busy enough, y'know. Happens:)

Easygardener...the rainy season was even better because the lizard would stay longer whenever the sun was out. I hope to see more of them in winter. That's when they come and sunbathe under the bamboo plants.

Linda, I cannot imagine THAT kind of cold. Our winters will be like a pleasant spring day for you, I think!! But we still shiver!!

But the frost must be beautiful!

Thank you for your all your kind words and for mentioning my post in your blog. Your photos are very beautiful....Thanks once again.

Anonymous said...

Your tropical jungle is very lush and beautiful Kanak. I'm sure the wildlife like your lizard enjoy all that foliage to crawl around in.

Curmudgeon said...

That's a very photogenic lizard! I find them to be fascinating creatures. --Curmudgeon

Susie said...

Kanak-Thanks for showing us your "Lizzie". She looks a lot bigger than mine did. That first picture she looks like she is wearing camouflage. She looks quite at home in your bamboo grove, which I enjoyed looking at too.

Anonymous said...

What amazing photos you were able to capture. Really enjoyed your post.

West Coast Island Gardener said...

What a lovely little character. I didn't know that lizards shed their skin.

Unknown said...

Thanks Racquel. Bamboo tends to grow and grow and the leaves block out the sun too. I try not to trim them too thin because of the wildlife.

Curmudgeon, thanks for stopping by. I love the way they stay still when they see me, as if posing for the camera, but soon they are off in a flash...sometimes before I manage to take a shot!

Susie, the first one is a new resident and she's got a snake-like pattern on her skin. I was really happy to see her. I hope I'll see her again.
Glad you liked them!

Mildred, thank you so much! Lovely to have you here!

Shauna, I might never get a chance to photograph a lizard in this state...I was lucky! Glad you were here...

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Great series of Lizzie. It is so wonderful the wildlife you have in your garden. We can enjoy it as well. I did not know that lizards shed their skin.
Bamboo is wonderful. I went to a bamboo garden. I did not realize that bamboo grows very fast. My daughter and son in law are growing a bamboo grove.

Unknown said...

Thank you Trudi. Although I'd heard about lizards moulting I'd never seen the actual process.
I'm discovering more tiny creatures that live on the grove. Right now there are lots of cobwebs and plenty of minute spiders.
I'm sure your daughter and son-in-law will be happy to discover wildlife in miniature in their bamboo grove in the near future.
So glad to know that you enjoy going through my garden wildlife photos.

Carla said...

Yea Lizards! I try to keep ours away from the cats. I hope your birds don't see her (your lizard) hiding and put an end to her busy-ness!

Unknown said...

Oh Carla, I hope not! I hope they keep themselves stuffed with worms and do not graduate to lizards!