This short sequence gives me an idea as to why this particular lizard is missing half its tail. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
My other lizard encounters:
Category: Wildlife
Maguari stork
Maguari stork (Ciconia maguari) and ducks
Its presence upsets the teros (Southern lapwing – Vanellus chilensis), but it clearly has no attention of going anywhere. They were hassling it when I arrived, and still an hour later.
Snake encounter
Another almost-step-on by Lea the wonder dog.
Whoa now
Blocking the path today: Culebra Marrón – Clelia rustica. Never aggressive, though we didn’t know that at the time. Probably a meter long.
Lea catches a lizard!
Unfortunately for Lea the Lizard Chasing Dog, it was already quite dead. Its tail broke off moments after taking this picture, an impressive escape move from something that isn’t even alive.
Mysterious critter trails
The not-shy green lizard
Normally little lizards blend with the background and scurry away as soon as you spot them. Not this one today. And not that I would have caught him, but looked like he’d make a cool pet. Happily Lea, the lizard-hunting dog, was not close by and not paying attention.
Mysterious dead bunny
In the past few years of walking dogs almost daily — six to eight of them — they have only caught (and of course killed) three rabbits, two of them young and obviously inexperienced. One of those little ones was just a few days ago. And we have seen many, many chases, some spectacular, some almost farcical. We’re always happy when the rabbits get away.
But what killed this little one today, no idea. We always know when there’s a chase, because the dogs yelp. Not a sound today, and no blood. Both baby rabbits the dogs caught previously were quickly torn to pieces.
So, another little mystery.
Awesome snake motion
Stepped out the back door to find this. Awesome the way snakes move!
Not playing
Unusual fuss last night; dogs wouldn’t come in. Bandito the Shih Tzu was burrowing impossibly into the aloe vera, backed by chain link fence, until I had to swat at him with a flashlight to flush him. He went inside, I went inside. Then Susan announced that Mocha was inside, she not seeing, as I did, something a foot long hanging from his mouth.
My first thought was a rat, but he jumped on the couch and deposited a young comedreja (possum). “Dead,” I said, but Susan reminded me how well they play dead, so I grabbed it by the tail with a piece of paper towel and deposited it outside the fence, where our dogs couldn’t get at it.
Alas, the morning light revealed that it was not, after all, playing dead.
It’s not the first, but a little less mysterious than the last.