Our garden has been taken over by dinosaurs.
At least, that’s how it seems.
We’ve got Texas Spiny Lizards all over the place. I wonder if theirs were the little lizard eggs I saw in the brush pile awhile back. There, right there — that’s why we have a brush pile. A place for lizard babies!
They’re sure to have a nice time in our garden. Lots of insects, lots of places to hide.
All of our Texas Spiny Lizards, at least those we’ve spotted, are juveniles. They get rather chubby-looking as adults and can be about a foot in size. Mine still qualify as being “inches long.”
Believe me, when I find an adult in my yard I’m going to be squealing with pure joy. And I’ll probably take about a thousand pictures.
Because if these babies seem as prehistoric looking to you as they do me, just wait until you see the grown-ups!
Meredith,
Nice to have gardening companions isn’t it. We have five-lined skinks and Carolina Anoles, not seen either yet this year.
Tonight the peepers were so loud, Meg’s daughter could not hardly take the noise, she’s lived in the jungle too.
I would be thrilled as well. i love having lizards living in my garden
Oh, there is no creature I’d love to see in my yard more than a lizard! Post all 1000 photos — I’ll eagerly look at them all. 🙂
I’ve got brush piles and great rocky nooks, but they’re all in shade. Maybe I need to do something in the sunny areas to attract them…
We have so many of these little guys running around in the yard we have to watch where we put our feet down! We also have a couple of strange albino lizards that live in the screened in patio and only come out at night. They have ‘sticky’ feet and can climb up the stucco walls.
Sounds like maybe a gecko? Love those little guys.
I just ‘saved’ one of these guys at Red Barn on Saturday – he had stopped in the middle of the walkway and there was a cart barreling down on him. Of course now I”m the crazy lady walking around the Red Barn shuffling along and waving my arms while yelling at the gravel.
If that makes you a crazy lady, then we can start a club. I almost sat on a lizard today. I sat on some bricks while pulling some weeds, and a spiny lizard zipped out from underneath me. I don’t even want to think about what the fear I put it through with my big butt heading down to squash it. Oh, how it glared at me once it got clear of me.
Great photos, Meredith! The shots of him laying on his belly with his legs dangling cracked me up. And I love the depth of field in the third shot – were you using some sort of tilt-shift filter or filter?
What a treat. I too would be thrilled. He is cute in a icky kind of way. Lucky he is a little guy.
I’ve been seeing a lot of lizards lately, too. They’re not the spiny ones, though. I don’t recall ever seeing a lizard a foot long! I can’t wait to see pictures of the lizards when they are adults.
Nice to have a little friend like that to eat all of the icky insects. Great photos!
Hello Meredith, sometimes i forget to come here. We have lots of reptiles in our property in the province also, even in the house as it is an old one. There are even reptiles coming over to the yard when there are small chicks and i only look but a bit scared. When we still have a fierce dog, it killed a green reptile with unusually-shaped fingers. My nephew called me to show the reptile, but the dog thought it is not safe so he killed it. My nephew was so guilty he called loudly, coz it died. Your photos are always awesome, especially with those DOF.
Guess I need to start a brush pile here, no lizards in Kansas.
Meredith, I love the skinks and anoles in my garden but seeing a lizard a foot long would probably scare the heck out of me! It isn’t something one would normally see here in VA, at least not in my yard! I love critters though so I would certainly welcome one that large, should it be normal to have them around!! Right now, we are installing a waterfall/stream to our back yard and I am expecting that to encourage lots of wildlife to visit! Happy spring to you;-)
Until about 2 years ago I had not seen these guys in my yard, either. I remember the first one pretty well, and it was big… about 10 inches with its long tail. I was able to handle it a little with gloves as it was pretty chilly outside. I suspect a cat had dragged it out of hiding. It was slightly injured after its encounter with the cat, and I worried it wouldn’t make it. I have since seen a larger one and babies, so some of their clan has survived, if not that individual.
Great photos of yours there. I’m glad to see a lot of gardeners are seeing them locally. I think they are one of the neater residents in my yard.
Love the photos!! We recently moved to Austin, TX and we had one, that by your description, is an adult. We called him Godzilla as I’ve never seen a wild lizard so big (I’m used to geckos)! So far this spring, I have not seen Godzilla but we do have a few youngsters. I was wondering what I could do in my yard to make it more “homey” for them. I’m new to gardening and and slowly working on turning my brown thumb into a green one. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Jessica, great question — best habitat for lizards includes places to hide, like brush piles and rock piles, and shallow saucers of water to let them drink. Keep your garden pesticide free and plant natives that encourage a healthy, balanced ecosystem that includes a variety of insects. We’re pretty sure our brush pile in the back yard is a main place our lizards lay their eggs — we’ve seen a few shells there. If you already have young lizards, you’re sure to be on the right path for more! Good luck, Jessica!
we have 10 lizards hatching from eggs and they are so cute. Would love to get more adults so we can have more babies. Let me know where we can get more lizards
Loretta nedved
Elk Grove Cal 95624
Provide good places for lizards to hide and encourage insects in your garden, and lizards will soon be there! How exciting to have baby lizards!
I love love love my lizards. There is one in particular now that has been around for a couple of years and is quite used to me. I am not sure if it is male or female so we call it larry or lucy depending on our whim.
I love love love my lizards, too, Terri! They are such fun to have around, and so beneficial, too!
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