Lizard Information

[sasquatch]

the old saying about waiting for a bus, then 3 come at once allways seems to work better than most old sayings,

Only two weeks ago i was saying to my wife how I would love to see a lizard in the wild in britain, and have seen 3 of varying sizes at my work since and even held 2 of them, the 3rd one I seen today, i noticed him/her/it scuttling around my feet, i picked it up and noticed it's back was very flat, infact even a bit inverted, if thats the right description. I was hoping someone might tell me that it is a defense mechanism of some sort, ive been feeling awful all day that i might of stood on one of my new friends

[marvin]

hi

well done on your find you must be really chuffed.

common lizards can flatten their bodies significantly and they usually do so in order to maximise the surface area that is exposed to the sun. this then helps them to warm up and remain warm. after the initial shock at being caught common lizards also settle very quickly when being handled and i wouldn't be suprised if it was simply collecting extra warmth.

tim

[sasquatch]

thanks Tim

thats made my day, the little critter was just sunbathing.