western fence lizard Archives - Following Deer Creek

The western fence lizard is also known as a blue-belly because of the brightly colored scales under its throat and at the outer edges of the underbelly. It is a fossorial (burrowing) poikilotherm (an animal that regulates body temperature by sun basking or dirt burrowing).

In females and youngsters, the blue markings are faint or not there at all.

Characteristics

This lizard measures 2 inches to 3.5 from nose to snout. Eight inches total, including the tail.

Because of its pointed, overlapping scales, it’s a member of the spiny lizard genus – Sceloporus.

Colors range from sandy, black, brown to green. Some may have back stripes. Under the arms may be yellowish. Western fence lizards have the ability to change colors. Biologists think this adaptation relates to maintaining body temperature rather than for camouflage.

Third Eye

The third or parietal eye is located at the top of the lizard’s head. It’s covered by a translucent scale. Its purpose is to sense light throughout the year, signal the onset of reproduction and it helps control body temperature.

Behavior

The length of winter hibernation is dependent on climate conditions.

Defenses

Fast, biting, and defecating on predators
Dropping tail – caudal autotomy or self-amputation (Scientists measure from snout to vent because of the break-away tail)

Push-Ups

Functions of the Push-ups;

courtship – fitness demonstration – the more brilliant colors, the healthier the male (low parasite load)
territorial defense display – in mating season, males defend an approximate 25-foot radius from a high perch
may also relate to food availability within the territory
a dominant male guarding at the highest point in the territory is known as a tyrant

Diet

A blue-belly’s favorite food is insects. It will eat beetles, grasshoppers, ants, wasps, aphids, mosquitoes, ticks, scorpions, centipedes, and spiders. It will also eat other western fence lizards!

Shedding

As they grow, lizards shed skin in pieces. Sometimes, it becomes a snack. Successful shedding depends on diet, health status, and environmental conditions.

Life Span

5-7 years

Predators

Birds, snakes, alligator lizards, and cats.

Male Identification

Like birds, male western lizards are more brightly colored and showy than females. Where the tail meets the body, males have two large scales near the vent, a single opening used for waste elimination and reproduction.

While copulating, the male’s blue color is at its most brilliant.

Reproduction

Male identification at 2:17

Western fence lizards begin breeding after one year.

Mating Season – March – June

Egg size is largest with the first clutch. The number of clutches laid in a season depends on temperature and elevation. At lower elevations, females will lay between 1-4 clutches. At higher elevations, they’ll lay between 1-3 clutches. Each clutch can contain between 3-17 eggs.

Eggs and Hatching

Eggs incubate for approximately 2 months. Once hatched, babies fend for themselves.

Disease Benefits to Humans

Western fence lizards have a protein in their blood that filters out the spirochete bacterium in Deer Ticks that cause Lyme disease. After a tick feeds on a lizard it will not spread Lyme disease to its next, larger, host during its life cycle.

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If you liked this post, you may also like Deer Tick, A Questing Blood Sucker

Resources:

Bay Nature – How You Can Tell Male from Female Lizards?

In Tech Open – Reptilian Skin and Its Special Histological Structures

John Muir Laws – Lizards, Ticks, and Lyme oh my! (audio)

MonkeySee – How to Care for Pet Lizards (video)

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles – ‘Tis the Season fo Baby Lizards

Purdue University – Shedding Reptiles (PDF)

Reptilian Third Eye

San Francisco State University – Department of Geography – The Biogeography of Sceloporus occidentalis

Sci Show – How Do Animals Re-Grow Limbs (And Why Can’t We?)

UC Berkeley News – Tick population plummets in absence of lizard hosts

University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources – Pests in Gardens and Landscapes – Lizards
“Lizards cause no measurable damage to plants in gardens and may be beneficial by eating pest insects and should be left alone.”

BioWeb – Western Fence Lizard

WIRED – Lizards Use Third Eye to Steer by the Sun

Wikipedia – Western Fence Lizard

Even if bloodsucking arachnids make you scratch, it’s worth spending a few minutes learning about the behaviors of this tiny creature who survives by hitching rides and drinking blood. While ticks have the potential to spread serious disease, if you know where they hang-out, how do inspections, and how to properly remove them, you can minimize the danger to yourself, your family, and your pets.

Where Ticks Hang-out

Deer ticks are found in places near potential hosts. In Nevada County, those include; deer, squirrel, mice, rabbits, birds, lizards, woodrats, bobcats, skunks, gophers, dogs, cats, humans and other animals with blood.

Blood meals are required for growth. Black-legged ticks (aka Deer Ticks) are hard-bodied and require a host to progress through each life stage. Between meals, they wait, often going into diapause, a state of suspended development.

When not connected to a host, ticks require cool moist places like;

leaf litter
overgrown shrubs
high grass
wooded areas
woodpiles
low branches
logs
bird feeders
moisture-retaining garden features such as mulch or stone walls

Myths

Ticks do not;

jump
drop from trees
fly

They only crawl and climb. To move long distances, ticks must do so while attached to a host.

How Ticks Sense Hosts and Know When to Ready Their Grappling Hooks

body odor
vibration
heat
breath
moisture

Questing Behavior

Questing is when a tick prepares to latch onto a host. Like a pirate with a grappling hook, a tick perches at the end of grass blades or branches, waiting with outstretched front legs. After hooking onto hair or clothing, the tick begins to ascend. They travel up, looking for locations with thinner skin and for places where hosts cannot reach.

Questing Black-legged (Deer) tick. Photo Credit: National Park Service

Newtown Rd. bobcat with an engorged tick. Photo Credit: Terry & Anita Hansen

Life Span

In warm climates, a tick’s life span may only last a year. In Nevada County, where it’s cold, a tick has a three-year life span.

Fall through Winter

Tick life starts out as an egg.

Larvae hatch with six legs. *They go into diapause, suspended development, whenever weather conditions are not ideal.

Spring

The larva attaches to a host – usually a small animal – for its first blood meal – which can last from days to weeks – then drops off.

Summer through Winter

After molting, a larva becomes a nymph, gains two additional legs, and overwinters in this stage.

2nd Spring

Nymphs seek out a host for a second blood meal – which can last from days to weeks – then drops off.

2nd Summer through Winter

Nymphs molt into adults and overwinter in this stage.

3rd Spring

Adults seek out a third blood meal – usually on a large animal – where they feed and mate through the summer. Males die after mating.

3rd Fall

Females drop off the host to lay eggs on the ground. She’ll lay about twenty eggs a day and can lay over a thousand in a month-and-a-half. At this life stage, most of her body weight is comprised of the eggs. When she’s finished laying, her body collapses.

*Engorged females, ready to lay eggs will look for soil as a first choice, but if she drops off inside a house, she will seek places like hampers, bathroom rugs, or a pile of damp laundry.

Life stages: larvae, nymph, adult male and female.

Hardiness

Using diapause, ticks can survive long periods of drought. They can also survive underwater for two to three days and can last for two years without a blood meal.

Most Active

Adult black-legged ticks (aka Deer Ticks) are most active after the first frost in fall and again in spring.

Squirrels Carry Bacteria

In California, the Western gray squirrel is known to harbor the bacterium –Borrelia burgdorferi– that causes Lyme Disease. Ticks pick this up during their first or second blood meal.

Lizards – Western Lyme Heros

Western Fence Lizard with tick Photo Credit Jerry Kirkhart

While in the larva or nymph stage, ticks frequently find lizard hosts.

Alligator lizard with ticks. Photo Credit Steve Jervetson

A protein in lizard blood kills the Lyme disease causing bacteria.

Lizards may be the reason Lyme Disease is not as prevalent in the western states as it is in the east.

Once a tick is finished with its lizard liquid, the bacteria won’t be transmitted to the next host.

Predators

Ants, frogs, lizards, poultry, and opossums.

Tick Inspection & Bite Prevention

Wear light-colored clothes – long pants + long-sleeved shirts.
Apply bug spray with at least 20% Deet. (Permethrin on clothes only.)
Keep to the middle of the trail and try not to brush against branches or grass.
Frequently stop to check pant legs for ticks.
Check companions for ticks in places they can’t see.
Also do periodic checks on animals, focusing on head, ears, and neck.
If possible, shower within two hours of spending time in a tick zones.

Tick Removal

Because ticks have numbing agents in their saliva, you won’t feel it when mouthparts penetrate.

With tweezers, grab the tick close to the skin and pull straight out.

Ticks & Disease

“Ticks transmit the widest variety of pathogens of any blood-sucking arthropod, including bacteria, rickettsiae, protozoa, and viruses,” comments Larisa Vredevoe, Ph.D, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis

**It’s important to remove ticks as soon as possible. It takes between 36 to 48 hours for a Borrelia burgdorferi carrier tick to transmit the bacteria from the gut to the salivary glands.