Natural History Story

The Western Fence lizard was perching on a log in the sun when I took a photo of it. It's main characteristic is its blue belly, also known as "Blue Belly Lizard". Its distribution is Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, and Baja California. It is not found in deserts and is commonly spread through coastal and mountainous terrain. It likes wood piles, tree trunks, sticks on shrub from chaparral to high forests. This lizard is able to change it coloration to match its background. It sits in sunny areas looking for food and keep an eye out for predators. These lizards mostly eat insects, and are susceptible to being eaten my snakes and hawks. They tend to mate in May and June where their hatchlings will come out in August. There is an ongoing issue with lizards carrying lyme disease from ticks that they carry. However, this species only has 5% of ticks carrying lyme disease while others carry up to 50!

Posted on April 1, 2014 05:43 PM by ajcruik