Still, for all the traffic and city proximity, I have been
dealing with a fair amount of wildlife lately. I recently had an alligator
lizard just move right into the living room. Literally.
I had the front door open to let someone in, and an eight-inch reptile just marched in with her like it owned the place. Which it doesn’t,
or if it does, sure hasn’t been paying rent
Neither Poppy ,the
intrepid hunting Brittany, or I noticed the thing, but my visitor sure did. She
brought it to my attention with a strangled scream. Not a pretty sound.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one of these lizards, but
they are aptly named. They really do look like tiny alligators. They’re quite attractive
with black and tan diamond markings on their back, and they even sport substantial
fangs. If it wasn’t so small, it would have been scary.
I think it came inside
because we were having a ridiculous heat wave, and it knew the air-conditioning
was on. I know reptiles are supposed to be cold-blooded creatures but people
have said the same about me, and I was pretty uncomfortable.
The creature must not have a strong odor, because it
practically ran over Poppy, and she didn’t even notice it. The lizard, like its
namesake, was fast. Just as I reached
down to grab it and toss it outside, the thing darted behind a bookcase. For a few days I just hoped it would move out
on its own. But like a lot of uninvited guests it didn’t cooperate.
It was a pleasant enough visitor. It stayed out of sight and
unlike the rest of my quadrupeds, didn’t expect me to feed or clean up after
it. But it had to go. Preferably before
it died and started stinking up the place.
Which is how I ended up on my hands and knees running a
stick under the bookcase. I was trying to chase the damned thing into the
living room and then outside back to nature. The first couple of passes brought
forth a tremendous amount of hidden dog hair, but no reptile. The next time the
lizard came shooting out, straight at me. I was so surprised I forgot what I
was trying to do.
It wasn’t thrilled to see me either, and ducked back under
the bookcase. Apparently I had not made my intentions clear, because then it
scooted up the back of the bookcase and began walking on top of it. Where it
glared at me directly—eye to eye. I
poked it with the stick to push it back to the floor and the thing hissed at me.
Now I don’t speak lizard—until now I didn’t even know they could vocalize—but I
knew it was pissed.
I was starting to feel a bit flummoxed by the whole
thing—the standoff could have gone on for hours if not days—I have a feeling that reptiles are pretty
patient—when it suddenly ran back down the back of the bookcase, onto the floor
and out the front door. Where it belongs. Back in nature.
The funny thing is that I have seen him regularly since he
left. He’s taken up a spot by the doorstep.
The creature Poppy found this morning wasn’t so lucky. Poppy
is completely fascinated by whatever has been digging holes in the back yard so
it’s not unusual to see her butt sticking up in the air and her head jammed
down the animal’s tunnel. It’s not her
most photographic angle but I’m getting used to it. And she is usually just wasting her time.
Today was different. Poppy was digging as fast as her paws
could move, the dirt was flying and then boom! The next thing I knew she was
running around the horse paddock with something in her mouth. At first I
thought –okay hoped-she had a clump of dirt, or even some horse poo. But no, I
spotted little tiny feet. Ewwww.
She reluctantly brought it over to me and dropped it when I
asked. Good dog!
It was some kind of
rodent, but I have no idea what species. I had thought that ground squirrels
were the ones digging in the back yard, but this was no squirrel. Nor was it a
rat. It was about the size of a skinny guinea pig, and had little short legs
and a medium length tail.
It was probably some extremely rare creature which is now,
thanks to Poppy and me, extinct. Yay nature.
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