A Bobtail Lizard suns itself in the late afternoon, on the warm paving near my back door.
photograph taken 30 March 2017 by dheborah
Bobtails usually move slowly so they aren't too conspicuous. This bobtail has only hissed at me a few times and will usually make small rustling noises if I am nearby, so I won't stand on it. If I am moving slowly around the garden, or working in one area, it will walk around quite close to me, if I haven't disturbed it. However, if I stand and observe it for more than a few seconds, it makes a major position change. As soon as my back is turned, it disappears. At night, however, when it's really quiet, if I am sitting outside, the lizard will move across the dry leaves and mulch and watch me in the dark, under a nearby tree, moving occasionally. Because of their usual lack of speed, they are in danger of being run over by cars. Bobtails give birth to live young, unlike other lizards. Apparently, and this may explain the large holes which I have always blamed on millipedes, bobtails love strawberries.
