lizard tails

I have a horror of detached wriggling lizard tails which makes me wary of catching lizards. Besides the absolute freakiness of a detached tail lurching back and forth (evolved for maximum fascination), I also have to contend with the tail-less lizard who is much less likely to survive without his extra stored energy. So needless to say, when I discovered a baby collared lizard in my house last week, I only made a half-hearted attempt to catch it.

Several days ago it moved into Bella’s room, which was okay while she had a friend over on the sofa bed. And again okay while she was gone at her friend’s house. But not okay now. While Bella thinks it’s cute, she insisted on sleeping with me last night.

I finally caught the little rascal this morning, by tossing a hand towel over it gently and carrying the whole thing outside. I hadn’t really believed I would be successful – so I didn’t notice I was only half-dressed when I caught the bugger. After the tiniest hesitation about going outside in a shirt and my underwear – I opted for hopping on one foot and pulling on clothes with one hand. I released the little guy in my rose garden. I was so relieved to catch and release him without any tail detachment. Poor guy – living on a barren carpet wasteland for a week!

I didn’t get a pic of him myself, but here’s one from google images: collaredliz.jpg

He looked just like this, only very small and much cuter.

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