Thursday, August 26, 2010

Spunky Monkey

See anything? Actually its a Spunky Lizard and not a monkey. Sorry... ;)

Second one of these I've run in to and both times it startled me. One was under Pepper's water dish when I picked it up the other day. The way they distort their body and with the coloration and fat tail they resemble a very small snake coiled up (Maybe even a rattle snake). They are extremely hard to spot until they move. They also seem to tuck their legs up under them or real close to the body to make them resemble a snake even more (until they move)

The second one was just now when I flipped one of the solar panels on the ground to measure it for a rack I plan to build. This little sucker actually charged Pepper and then me and Pepper didn't have any thing to do with it unlike the blue tailed skinks she chases all over the place. I tried to look it up online and didn't find a match. I've also only started finding them lately so I don't know if I've just been missing them or they are just showing up? I'm sure they aren't poisonous, but evidently their tactic is to scare off predators rather than to run from them like most lizards. It worked pretty good for Pepper and me to until I saw what it was. ;)

12 comments:

  1. Funny, that it charged you and Pepper. Brave little sucker! Really a beautiful lizard though, sorry I can't help you ID it, maybe another reader will know.

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  2. Texas Banded Gecko?

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  3. that would scare anyone when you flip something over and out it comes.

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  4. czardastx, Yeah I'd call it brave.

    fallerya, I'd think it is too large to be a Gecko, but then I don't know.

    Nick, I think I'll start turning stuff over with sticks before I run in to one of its big cousins.

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  5. Great looking little guy. If you could collect enough of 'em, you might be able to have some nice boots made from their hide.
    Actually, I consider snakes and lizards to be benificial creatures, since they eat insects. As long as they aren't poisonous I don't mind having them around.

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  6. Allen, I don't kill anything besides rattlers, mice, rats and cone noses unless I feel threatened by them in some way.

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  7. Gila Monster...the poisonius lizzard??

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  8. Nope..just checked. The tail is to long.

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  9. My sister sent the picture to a nature place in Midland and they said it was indeed a Texas Banded Gecko so fallerya had it right. What I can't understand is why it sort of charged Pepper and me both instead of running???

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  10. Mateing season?? Things get a little agressive this time of year...or so I hear! LOL

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  11. Maybe that was it. Guess if felt more threatened by me and Pepper trying to beat it out for a mate than getting eaten or stepped on. ;) Silly Lizard!

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