Reptile wars (while watering the yard)
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Posted by: LateForLunch ®

06/21/2022, 10:45:30

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While hand-watering my yard with a hose, noticed what
appeared to be lizards wrestling in some shrubs. One had another locked on its head. 

BTW, I refrain from the use of insecticide on my property because it can cause
problems for the naturally indigenous lizards. See, they eat verminous insects
like spiders and other unpleasant, intrusive critters. I admire spiders as a
species (along with ants et al) as engineering marvels, but they can be
problematic for humans living in their domain. 
Lizards are immune to spider venom and therefore prey on spiders at will
– which lessens the population of spiders. 


Mind it's not rare to find a
healthy Black Widow or Brown Violin hanging around but the
lizards eat a lot of them along with crickets. In the past, I've applied USDA-approved (rolls eyes) insecticide to
the property because ants/spiders/crickets were intruding into the house. The
population of the lizards went down temporarily, but the bugs just moved indoors (garage,
under the house, etc) and came back. 

I figured out that the lizards were far more-effective
at reducing the insect population on my small property than poison. So the poison was discontinued. The lizards came back, I cleaned up debris/foliage around the base-boards, and all was well for many moons. No insecticide.

The larger lizard was what is known as an Alligator Lizard
(grows up to 18”) with the smaller a Blue Belly (Western Fence Lizard) about 8 inches max, in it’s grip (jaws
clamped hard over the head). I recognized that the Alligator Lizard was not a regular
to the property, so I acted to protect the Blue, which was "one of mine". I turned the hose at high
pressure on the Alligator Lizard briefly. He reacted to the force of the water,
but did not release grip. I turned the high-pressure stream at him
again, and kept it there for a few seconds (not wanting to harm either of them).
The Alligator Lizard moved away trying to drag the other deeper into the
undergrowth. I turned up the pressure and applied a sustained stream to the
Alligator Lizard and kept it there. 
After about twenty seconds (!), the vicious, relentless Alligator finally released the Blue,
which hurried off (though it seemed a little dazed). 

The Alligator Lizard retreated into
the loam/leaves. I have not seen it on the property since our...disagreement. I’m guessing it
moved on. PLEASE don’t mess with my lizard friends. They do great work, cause no trouble and don’t ask
for much payment. 






Modified by LateForLunch at Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 10:48:51


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I love to hear that! I don't use the dangerous insecticides because I would never want to harm my beautiful lizards, or the birds, for that matter. In April I had a swarm of Africanized bees on my property
Re: Reptile wars (while watering the yard) -- LateForLunch Post Reply Top of thread Forum

Posted by: DeeDee ®

06/24/2022, 16:02:11

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and called out a bee keeper to round them up. They pollinated my citrus trees so beautifully (yes, Africanized bee pollinate and even make the best honey ever because, according to the bee keeper, they are the cleanest and keep their quarters cleaner than any of the other bees.

Unfortunately, there is a horrible butterfly/looking moth known as the Citrus leaf minor and it has devastated my citrus trees. I used spinosad which is considered a safer pesticide, but my favorite lime, and small orange may not survive. Made me cry.

At any rate, I am a lover of the lizards and do all I can to keep them around. My son ordered about 250 of them and released them on his property. They all fled the scene to other more pleasant quarters.

When my "exterminator" comes out, my property smells like garlic. It keeps the bugs out. I've learned since our move to AZ, to put diatamaceous earth around the threshold, because it keeps the creepy crawlers out. 

So glad there's someone who understands my love of these wonderful creatures of nature.







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Have you considered covering the trees with protective flexible screen?
Re: I love to hear that! I don't use the dangerous insecticides because I would never want to harm my beautiful lizards, or the birds, for that matter. In April I had a swarm of Africanized bees on my property -- DeeDee Post Reply Top of thread Forum

Posted by: LateForLunch ®

06/25/2022, 22:14:48

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I have seen smaller trees encased in such transparent shells of protection. I don't know if it works against the vile moths which are afflicting your tree. 





Modified by LateForLunch at Sat, Jun 25, 2022, 22:16:24


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Alligator lizards
Re: Reptile wars (while watering the yard) -- LateForLunch Post Reply Top of thread Forum

Posted by: Russ Walden ®

06/22/2022, 13:43:09

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LFL --
The usual diet of alligator lizards is large bugs, not little lizards -- but they will eat them sometimes.

My son used to keep them.  He had a cage in which he usually had several of them.  He would periodically set them free, as he added new ones.

Take care,
Russ







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Noted, TYVM for the interesting information.
Re: Alligator lizards -- Russ Walden Post Reply Top of thread Forum

Posted by: LateForLunch ®

06/23/2022, 01:24:20

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No other sightings of this breed (only a few ugly salamanders and the Fence Lizards) on the grounds - by spraying it with water I seem to have hurt its feelings.







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Ihave a feeling I wouldn't want an alligator lizard around, but the chichihua/jack Russell I rescued loves to chase the quick critters....
Re: Noted, TYVM for the interesting information. -- LateForLunch Post Reply Top of thread Forum

Posted by: DeeDee ®

06/24/2022, 20:11:17

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