Leapin' Lizards!

Oh, the things you find on the Bayou! I was roaming the hill above the Bayou when I came across an old, kiddie wading pool. This is not one that was left over from years and years ago with my children but rather one we bought for the dog. Ms. Ez loves to cool off with a plunge in icy water during those hot days of summer. Instead of letting her swim in the Bayou or Bay, we bought this little pool and taught her that this was hers. She was happy..I was happy. She..because she had a readily available source of coolness and me..because I did not have to worry about her swimming with the alligators and snapping turtles. It all worked out for the best. Now, that little pool sits upside down in the yard just collecting leaves and hickory nuts. I stared at the turtle-shaped pool and made a hasty decision to rid the yard of the lime green eyesore! Be gone, Lime-Green-Turtle-Shaped-Wading/Doggy-Pool! The toe of my moccasin slipped under the edge and with a mighty heave, flipped the pool over. Leaves, hickory nuts and water ran down the hill with a big whoosh! Aha! The pool shall be exiled to the trash bin! No more shall there be this ugly thing taking up space where a lovely garden could be! Ms. Ez will have to be content lolling about in the Little Puddle-pond with all of the water lilies!

It was then that I realized my mistake! I had unintentionally "de-homed" a small lizard! A tiny, Blue-tailed Skink had taken up residence under the plastic dome of the pool. In and amongst the leaves and wood chips, the little reptile had lived happily until the Monster Lady single-handed demolished its home! I rued my decision to move the pool. The upheaval surely was quite a startling ordeal for the little lizard. It sat stunned..not hurt as I had not touched him at all..but disoriented..dazed..that its home was no longer there.

Oh, my! What a beautiful thing this Blue-tailed Skink was! Its neon, metallic blue tail contrasted sharply against its dark (almost black) body. Up the length of its body were five, bright yellow stripes which give it its other name of Five-lined Skink..duh! To be totally honest, this is not a true Blue-tailed Skink which normally are found in Australia but is sort of the "American" version. Its actual name is "Plestiodon". To me, that is one of those words that just does not seem to want to roll off the tongue as well as the common names and it sounds much more like a name for a dinosaur than a tiny, three inch long lizard! So I will just continue to call it a Blue-tailed Skink and take the chance that someone will berate me for misidentifying it! After all..it is a Skink and it does have a bright blue tail...hence, a Blue-tailed Skink!

This little lizard is pretty common around here as it loves wood piles and sawdust. I have plenty of both if you consider mulch is basically large sawdust! Thus, I have plenty of Skinks! One curious trait of this Skink is the fact that the bright blue tail is actually part of its defense system. If a predator attacks, the tail immediately falls off as with other lizards but the color attracts the attacker so the little guy can make his escape! I like my little lizard! I like him so much that I carefully set his house in order so that he can survive the rest of the Winter without having to go house-hunting! I will deal with the Lime-Green-Turtle-Shaped-Wading/Doggy-Pool at a later date when there is no threat of a hard freeze that could harm my little friend! Live on..Little Blue-Tail..Live on!!!