It has eyelids...Not a snake!

  Ok, folks.  It is NOT a snake!  Yesterday evening, I decided to head to the pier to haul in all of the fishing gear.  Once again, we were in the line of  some pretty bad weather and there was no need in letting the gear get ruined.  After everything was toted ashore, I figured that I may as well hike around the property edge before the storms set in for the evening.  Down along the east side near the marsh, I rounded a corner in the path to come nigh on stepping on a critter.  At first glance, I did, indeed, think this was a snake but, then, a closer look and I realized that I had made a mistake.  The critter blinked.  Snakes do not blink!  In fact, snakes do not have the ability to blink as they have no eyelids.  Snakes have a clear scale covering each eye (it is part of their skin).  This critter definitely blinked!  Well, if it was not a snake and not venomous, I needed to investigate.  Actually, at that point its identity was already clear to me but I still wanted to  check out my new found friend.  

  The critter was about two feet in length, light brown with a dark longitudinal stripe down each side and dark speckled markings near the face.  It also had ear holes!  Those ear holes were the definitive factors in identifying this as a lizard!  Yep. I had just stumbled upon a Slender Glass Lizard which is also known as a legless lizard.  To say I was ecstatic would be putting it mildly.  I have long wanted to find a glass lizard since I have not seen one in years.  What a beauty this one was, too!  It still had its original tail!  True to its name, Slender Glass Lizards are pretty fragile things when it comes to their tails.  Like most lizards, when they feel threatened, the lizards have the ability to drop their tails as decoys.  This tail-dropping is called shattering.  A detached tail will continue to thrash about so a predator is distracted allowing the lizard to escape.  

  I was amazed at how docile (almost tame) the lizard was.  I knelt near it to get photographs and then had the bright idea to use the macro lens to get a nice up-close and personal photo.  The lizard did not mind that I was literally shoving the camera to two inches from its face!  Well, if it was that tame, I may as well try to pet it!  Yep!  I did.  The lizard had no qualms about being stroked on its head as I admired its beauty.  Oh, my goodness!  I so wanted to hold this beauty but, using my better judgement, I refrained.  There was no need to cause our meeting to be traumatic for the critter.  (I did not want to be responsible for its tail breaking!).  After about ten minutes, the Slender Glass Lizard eased its way to the nearby pile of oyster shells.  It turned once to look at me as if to say, "Thanks for not being mean!  See you next time!" or at least I hope that is what it was thinking!