Jurassic Garage

Cindy was transplanting tomatoes yesterday and was in and out of the garage several times and I was making some of my flame worked glass beads.  Cindy uses  wooden clothes pins to secure shade cloth over tender plants.  She keeps the clothes pins in a basket on top of one of the cabinets and when she reached up to get them, this is what she saw looking back at her:

Hello There!

Turns out it is a  Southern Alligator Lizard, Elgaria multicarinata.  These lizards are considerably bigger than the Western Fence Lizards we usually see scooting around our patio and garden, with a combined body and tail length up to twelve inches long, but like some other lizards, the Southern Alligators Lizards also are able to shed their tails as a defensive measure and then regenerate the tails.  See: http://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/southern-alligator-lizard.htm.  Our lizard's tail was a grayish brown and did not have the scale pattern that the body had, so we think this one had regenerated its tail.

This One Has a New Tail

After an initial reaction of shock at finding the lizard in the basket on top of the cabinet, we decided to see if we could get it out of the garage without damage to either the lizard or ourselves.  Fortunately, the lizard was content to just go along for the ride in the basket and didn't jump out at me or run up my arm or do any of the other things it could have.

I'm Ready For My Close-up, Mr. DeMille!

When we got it out of the garage, of course I had to take some pictures, and then we decided to relocate it into the cool space under the Star Jasmine bush on the north side of the garage.

Lizzy's New Home

We're hoping it likes its new home in the shrubbery and doesn't try to get back into the garage.  And it's welcome to all the bugs it can eat.