Lizards

Lizard Tracks

Natural History of Lizards

lizard

Lizards are cold-blooded reptiles. Since they cannot make their own body heat, they spend a lot of time out in the sun, staying warm. You will find them on fence posts, rocks, logs, pavement, fences, walls, and many more places. There are more than 3000 species of lizards, making them the largest group of reptiles. They have dry, scaly skin and clawed feet. Lizard tails are fragile and easily break off. This can be beneficial in that it allows the lizard to escape from predators. Some lizards use their tails to store fat reserves.

Most lizards eat insects. (They are insectivores.) Some are vegetarians and a few will eat small mammals and eggs.

They are found in tropical and sub-tropical habitats.

Lany lizards can defend themselves by biting and there are two species that are venomous. The scaly skin helps protect against predators. The chameleon can change its color to match that of its environment. This allows it to camouflage itself and hide from predators.

The largest lizard is the Komodo dragon.

Since they are, for the most part, lightweight animals, their tracks can be difficult to see unless you have the right conditions of soil and light. Sometimes the tail will leave a drag mark in the trail. You will find little scratches that indicate where the feet were placed. The long toes may, on occasion, be visible in the trail.

 

Personal Notes on Lizards

 

As a kid, I thought it was fun to catch the "blue-belly" lizards that frequented wood piles near my house. We found that, if you turned the lizard over and rubbed its belly, it would go to sleep. I don't know why that is, but it's pretty challenging to get a lizard to go to sleep in your hands.

 

Find lizard posters, greeting cards, t-shirts, hats, and more in my new store.

Now available: "Animals Don't Cover Their Tracks - An Introduction to Animal Tracking" on CD! (Version 3.0) New drawings, more species, more photos, more extensive sections on tracking humans, more detailed directions for plaster casting, mystery tracks section, tracking stories section, and more. The CD features over 100 species, including special bonus sections with the tracks of some African and Australian animals. A large section on tracking lost people for search and rescue is included, with over four pages of photos showing the details of tracks and signs people leave. Easy to use format. This web site is limited by bandwidth, but the CD-ROM is not. The CD is available in my online store at: www.dirt-time.com  Works with Mac or PC. Happy tracking!!

What else can you find in the nature store? Beartracker's animal tracks coloring book, T-shirts, sweatshirts, journals, book bags, toddler and infant apparel, mouse pads, posters, postcards, coffee mugs, travel mugs, clocks, Frisbees, bumper stickers, hats, stickers, and many more items. All with tracks or paw  prints, or nature scenes. Custom products are available. If you don't see the track you want on the product you want, email me and I can probably create it. Proceeds from all sales go to pay the monthly fees for this web site. You can help support this site as well as get great tracking products! Thank you!

 

Find other tracking products: www.zazzle.com/tracker8459*

 

Also visit these fine stores for more products of interest:

NDN Pride shop - For Indian Pride items for all tribes. Custom items available on request.

ASL Signs of Love - For anyone who uses or is learning ASL, American Sign Language. Custom name items and more are available here.

Sales from all stores give commissions to Beartracker's Animal Tracks Den, which helps keep this site online as a free service. We are celebrating ten years online this year!

 

 

 

prints prints

Got a lizard story? E-mail me and tell me about it.

tracker@humboldt.net

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Copyright © 1997-2008. Text and drawings by Kim A. Cabrera