Last weekend and July 4th I took some time to appreciate our lizard neighbors which inhabit our back and front yards. We help provide a great home for our lizards by creating cover with wood piles, sticks, and logs, and understory plants. We provide food with our mulch piles and compost, and with leaf cover, which also keeps the ground cooler. We remove threats by not using poisons in our yard, even for scorpions, and by keeping our cats indoors (for their protection as well). And we also have man made places to hide such as overturned broken pots, and stone walls.
Part of having a wildlife friendly yard is to remove prejudices against certain species over others since they are all needed for a balanced environment. Our spiders, ants, beetles and scorpions all play important roles. Removing any diversity can create a chain reaction on other species since they are interdependent-as we are as well. Removing scorpions hinder your ability to attract Screech or Elf Owls to your yard. Removing lizards would also hamper efforts to attract roadrunners, hawks, or owls. And removing insects could hamper efforts to attract thrashers, towhees, and wrens. And as much as our rock squirrels, and sometimes pack rats, test my patience as they munch my favorite plants and dig holes, I know they are all part of the puzzle as well.
We try to create wildlife friendly habitat similar to the native vegetation in our neighboring natural areas. This has provided continual excitement as friendly neighbors visit us for a day, a season, or even for years. I hope the following pictures show the beauty of our reptilian neighbors. I am only a beginner with lizard and insect identification so some of these pics could be misnamed or unnamed. Any input from budding herpetologists is greatly appreciated. Thank you for appreciating all of our wildlife neighbors sharing the struggles of life in our desert community.
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