#290: My New Friend

And a couple of its relatives

Here’s one of the first lizards I ran into this year, a whiptail on a fence post in the Sandia foothills.¹ If you look closely, you might be able to see a bit of iridescent blue under its chin.

I went out to Sandstone Bluffs — in El Malpais — a few weeks ago and found another whiptail wandering around amongst the rocks.²

It was on the wall of the little rock basin below when I first encountered it, outside the frame of the picture.³

I was wandering around inside the basin myself and, after I took a few pictures of it, the lizard apparently got curious about me. It came over and inspected my boots and then checked out my hiking pole.

After a while, it decided it was time for a drink from the tinaja (which, by the way, was the only one I saw with water in it that day).

We each did our own thing for a while, then my new friend headed back up to the ledge where I’d originally seen it.

It seemed so unafraid of me that I actually put my finger out, about an inch from its head, so it could come closer if it wanted to. It didn’t — but it didn’t run away either. (If you look closely at the picture below, you might see a bit of iridescent blue on the side of its tummy.)

Meanwhile, I ran into another not-too-shy lizard down at Bosque del Apache. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a lizard standing on all fours before. Most stay pretty close to the ground.

When I learned it was a greater earless lizard, I thought, “Wait, what? Lizards have ears?” I’ve certainly never noticed any.

Turns out they do have ears, it’s just that they’re very small openings without flaps. In fact, earless lizards also have ears — but apparently theirs have thin membranes over the openings, making them even more difficult to see.

1. I personally think of them as “lizards,” “normal lizards,” or “regular lizards.” I run into far more whiptails than any other kind of lizard so, to me, they tend to be the gold standard by which all others are measured.

2. I love Sandstone Bluffs more and more each time I visit.

3. The fourth and fifth photos in this post show the same basin.