Nature and Wild Life

When you think of backyard wildlife, most people don’t usually assume something as prehistoric as a dinosaur in appearance would be common place. Yet here is this lizard with it’s edgy like body hanging out in my backyard. These aren’t your typical anoles you usually see around your property.

This guy was surprising to discover for myself as they are significantly large for what they are. Granted, these lizards aren’t monitors per say but they are still quite large for something that can live in your backyard. They can seem intimidating at first (It’s even longer than the Hognose snake I have in captivity) but rest assure, Sceloporus olivaceus is a harmless reptile. In fact, these guys are kind of useful if you are doing any sort of gardening outdoors. Reason being, they are insectivores. They’ll feast on any pesky inverts that’ll try to ruin your Kaczynskian food production.

Despite finding this reptile on the ground, Sceloporus olivaceus tend to prefer to hang around the trunks of trees (which I have a couple in my backyard). I can assume they like to come down to the ground level to feast on insects crawling or warm themselves in the sun before heading back to the trees when it starts to get dark to avoid potential predators (although I can’t imagine anything being capable of eating such a large lizard with a spiny body).

I still see this particular lizard hanging out around my backyard porch during the day (even though the weather hasn’t been as hot as it normally is). Perhaps I’ll keep some additional updates on this species if I notice anything in particular. On a side note, apparently this particular species can be kept as a pet though I don’t know the viability or success rate of keeping one in something like a 10-20 gallon terrarium. They aren’t an endangered species persay but I think they are probably better off in the wild than in captivity and I am not too sure if they are even breed in captivity. Otherwise, it’s a fairly docile lizard.