Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Garden Lizard, a Disappearing Friend

The garden lizards Calotes are no longer common in urban gardens. I found this female one in a weedy part of my school garden. These lizards are friends of the gardener as they eat a lot of the insect pests. The male Calotes becomes a bright red during the mating season. It was common to see them doing their 'push ups' to attract the females, on stones and rocks, but now they are nowhere to be seen.

7 comments:

  1. Those look a whole lot like the Cuban brown anoles that are invasive in my area! I do love watching their pushups though... they think they're so macho.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I never seen them before! Such a benefical lizard to have in my garden!
    Push up to attract females? hahahhaa... so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't like lizard like this one! Actually all lizards are scary for me... But good shot hehe...

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's sad to see so many species disappearing. Terrific capture as always! Hope your week is going well!

    Sylvia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello.

     Lovely your works...
     The interchange of the artistry brings the peace of the heart.

     Thank you for your visit.
     Have a good weekend.

    Greetings, and Dear hug.
    from Japan.
    ruma

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! Beautiful markings on the lizard. It's sad to know that lizards are disappearing from urban gardens. The lizards here are mostly brown and do not have prominent markings.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lizards are disappearing all over the planet due to the hotter climate. They can't cope with the rise in temperature due to their col blood. It's heartbreaking, but true.

    ReplyDelete