Home»Portola Valley Ranch, Windy Hill, Etc.»5/24/2020 Iridescent Green Male Western Fence Lizard

This lizard was out at noontime on a warm day. It did several pushups in the shade; then, as I would move cautiously forward, it would scurry ahead along the trail, pausing again to pose in the dappled sunlight. Amazing iridescence! Ticks!!

The Western Fence Lizard, AKA Blue-bellied Lizard for obvious reasons, helps protect us Californians from the disease named after Lyme, Connecticut. Something in the lizard's blood kills the spirochete of the Lyme Disease; when the ticks fall off, they are free of the disease. Thanks, lizards!