Newts & (Desert!) Lizards

Sierra Newt - Taricha sierrae

Did you find any newts?  They should be out there in streams and ponds, probably with their eggs!  After overwintering under forest duff or logs, adult newts head for their birthplace to mate and lay their eggs.  The breeding time can last from September to May!  The females lay lots of jelly-like eggs, usually in Spring, which hatch out as larvae with gills.  You can see these larvae developing in their eggs in the top photo above. After several weeks these aquatic larvae transform into "efts", or immature juveniles, and leave their birthplace to live on land!  On land, they eat earthworms, snails, slugs(!), sowbugs, and a variety of insects.  The Sierra Newt in the bottom photo, is responding to danger by showing its bright orange belly and throat. It is warning potential predators that it is poisonous, with its aposematic coloring.  Not many animals prey on newts, except for garter snakes, which are known to develop a tolerance to the newt's neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin!  Handling newts does NOT expose you to this toxin, but eating one could kill you!

Black-Collard Lizard - Crotaphytus bicinctores

I was thrilled to come across this beautiful Black-Collared Lizard on my vacation in the Arizona desert!  They are largish lizards, and can measure up to 14" in total length!  They prefer to live in rocky, rather than sandy, areas of the desert.  Their favorite food is other lizards, but will also eat snakes, rodents, insects, and some plants.  They are the only North American lizard that uses bipedal locomotion.  When threatened they raise up onto their hind legs and race off at an astonishing rate of 15 mph!!!!  Unlike other lizards, their tails do not easily come off.  If they loose their tail, to a predator, it doesn't grow back!  
The orange stripes on his body, indicates that this is a male.  
Check out his "eyelashes" in the photo below!  
Also, see if you can find his "ear"!

Zebra-Tailed Lizard - Callisaurus draconoides

A few years ago I spotted this incredible Zebra-Tailed Lizard, in the same area of Arizona!  He's a bit smaller than the Black-Collared Lizard, measuring up to 9" in total length, but check out his feet!!!!  Those long and thin toes help him stay cooler, by having minimal contact with the hot desert surface.  He can even raise his toes off the ground, while standing, to further reduce the amount of surface contact.  They prefer to live in sandy open areas with plenty of shrubs that provide shade and protection.  They can run super fast, at about 22' per second, or 18 mph!!!  They are active during the day, and bury themselves in loose sand overnight. They mainly feed on insects and some plants.  Despite their camouflage and speed, they are the prey of snakes, birds, foxes and other lizards!  Like the Black-Collared Lizard the females are oviparous, and lay eggs in the Spring which hatch in July.

Due to the continued rainy weather in my neighborhood, I haven't seen any lizards locally!  Next week I'll catch up on what new birds have arrived, as well as what's blooming!  Maybe I'll even find
some new bird nests!