Western Fence Lizard

[rjlittlefield]

I don't see a lot of lizards. Most of the ones I do see are so flighty that all I can get are telephoto shots, usually through a hole in some leaves, in a crevice between two rocks.

This one was different.

Its defensive strategy seemed to be "I'm pretending to be a rock!", but it wasn't very good at it.

If I'm reading the guides correctly, this is a "Western Fence Lizard", Sceloporus occidentalis. They're famous for perching in exposed areas that are vulnerable to predation. Judging from the condition of this one's tail, I'd say we're looking at a specimen that's just barely a survivor.

These are all the same animal. Total length about 6 inches, nose to tip of (truncated) tail.

--Rik

Technical: Canon A710IS, auto-everything. EXIF info says 1/80 at f/4. Location was in Bear Canyon, near Oak Creek about 15 miles NW of Yakima, WA.

[Charles Krebs]

Looks like you've been having a good time with your little Canon P&S. I'm only about 100 miles away from you, but what a difference a little mountain range makes when it comes to subject matter.

This reminded me of a "fence lizard" link Mike B posted about a year ago. It's still there, and might be interesting to some who have not seen it:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... N65130.DTL

[rjlittlefield]

Excellent link, Charlie!

While tracking down an ID on this beast, I ran into a bunch of references to the Lyme disease connection, but I didn't pursue any of them.

The link that you've given is much more detailed than anything that I saw.

--Rik

[jmlphoto]

ahhh i love these, they are everywhere(even in my avatar). i can go outside in my backyard and find 5 at least. all sizes and colors too. yours is really FAT haha. never seen one like that. maybe its a pregnant female? did you get to see him do pushups? all the ones around here try to show how tough they are.

thats a great link charles, i did not know that. makes me feel much better about the ticks in the mountains around here. there are A LOT of the western fence lizards up there. i mean tons.

[beetleman]

Wonderful photo Rik. There are no lizards up here in New Hampshire . The lizard looks very chunky to me. I wonder if it just had a good meal or maybe it is gravid. That might explain why it let you get so close.