Interesting critters

[Tulecreeper]

Had this guy show up one night on my hummer feeder. Yes, they can climb walls.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Here's a little guy just hanging around, waiting for something worthwhile to crawl by.

 

[jackiemac]

Ive

I think Texas has some of the smallest spiders that exist. I will try to get a pic of one but they are so tiny i dont think they would even show up on a pic. I can bearly see them move looking at them. Some of them i swear are smaller than this "." dot.

Seen some really interesting macro photos of jumping spiders. They actually look very cute!

 

[jackiemac]

I was at the Valley of Fire State Park yesterday and saw a really lovely white spotted lizard which as it turns out may be an iguana. It ran into its burrow when I got close. I left it and went back and I wasn't paying attention and missed a great photo of it sitting on top of a bush.

Photo from inaturalist....

 

[DonTom]

I was at the Valley of Fire State Park yesterday and saw a really lovely white spotted lizard which as it turns out may be an iguana. It ran into its burrow when I got close. I left it and went back and I wasn't paying attention and missed a great photo of it sitting on top of a bush.

Photo from inaturalist....

It could have been. But if it has a collar, it was a Collard Lizard.

Both have white spots and both are in that area. The Collard Lizard is larger. And can run on its hind legs, unlike the Desert Iguana.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Tulecreeper]

I was at the Valley of Fire State Park yesterday and saw a really lovely white spotted lizard which as it turns out may be an iguana. It ran into its burrow when I got close. I left it and went back and I wasn't paying attention and missed a great photo of it sitting on top of a bush.

Photo from inaturalist....

It's a Desert Iguana.

 

[jackiemac]

It's a Desert Iguana.

First time I've seen one. It was beautiful!

 

[jackiemac]

It could have been. But if it has a collar, it was a Collard Lizard.

Both have white spots and both are in that area. The Collard Lizard is larger. And can run on its hind legs, unlike the Desert Iguana.

-Don- Reno, NV

It was a lot bigger than the collared lizards I've seen but then I've only seen a couple

 

[jackiemac]

Here's one I saw last year in the San Rafael Swell Utah...

 

[DonTom]

It's a Desert Iguana.

The photo is, but if I understand correctly that wasn't her photo and she wasn't sure.

Desert Iguanas are what visited with me here.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

Here's one I saw last year in the San Rafael Swell Utah...

I saw a large Collard Lizard in Lockwood, Exit 22 on I-80 where Tom & I used to walk our doggies next to the Truckee River. The largest one I ever saw. Just a mile outside of Reno.

No Desert Iguanas this far north.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DonTom]

It was a lot bigger than the collared lizards I've seen but then I've only seen a couple

The largest lizard out there is the Gila Monster. The 2nd largest is the Chuckwalla:

 

[Tulecreeper]

The largest lizard out there is the Gila Monster. The 2nd largest is the Chuckwalla:

I found a Chuckwalla in my backyard in Vacaville, CA when I was a teenager. Obviously someone lost it in the neighborhood. We gave it to the wildlife center.

 

[DonTom]

I found a Chuckwalla in my backyard in Vacaville, CA when I was a teenager. Obviously someone lost it in the neighborhood. We gave it to the wildlife center.

Yeah, that is far from its natural range. I see most Chuckwallas during hikes in Jousha Tree Park. But I have also seen them in Death Valley and a few other places.

I have yet to see a Gila Monster.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Tulecreeper]

Yeah, that is far from its natural range. I see most Chuckwallas during hikes in Jousha Tree Park. But I have also seen them in Death Valley and a few other places.

I have yet to see a Gila Monster.

-Don- Reno, NV

I've seen one. When I was about 7 years old my parents and I were at Fisher's Landing on the Colorado River north of Yuma - we went there a lot in the 60's when I was a kid living in San Diego. We came back from a fishing trip and pulled the boat up on the bank next to the dock and when we got out I asked, "What kind of lizard is that, dad?" He was only wearing laceless deck shoes, but he immediately stopped it's head into the gravel, killing it, and said, "That's a Gila Monster. Real poisonous, don't mess with them," which was probably a good lesson because I was known to just pick up any snake or lizard I found. It was one of those real colorful ones, red, orange, and black.

 

[DonTom]

"That's a Gila Monster. Real poisonous, don't mess with them,"

I guess it depends on what "real" venomous (I just have to use the correct word there!) means. There is no record of anybody ever being killed by a Gila Monster, yet several people have been bitten while handling them. They have to chew in the venom too, kinda difficult for them to do. Can only be dangerous when handled, and even then, not really all that dangerous, but still worth heading for a hospital if it does happen.

BTW, the same goes for the AZ Desert Coral Snake. No deaths ever recorded. Another reptile I have never seen. Not even at the Sonoran Desert Museum. But they did have a Gila Monster the last time I was there, just a couple of months ago.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[DeckArtist]

I love animals...have one cat and my neighbor has a very cool dog [blue heeler] that likes to come visit We did have some ducks next door but they have moved on. Love seeing all the pics.

 

[Tulecreeper]

This guy apparently hitched a ride with a Ranger at Lost Dutchman State Park.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I love animals...have one cat and my neighbor has a very cool dog [blue heeler] that likes to come visit We did have some ducks next door but they have moved on. Love seeing all the pics.

Or the cat ate them.

 

[DeckArtist]

Yeah we do have several feral cats running about...