Not Another Snake!

Earlier this morning, B tapped on the glass doors and indicated with hand signals that I should get my camera. When I got to him, he added, "And shoes!" He said there was a garter snake outside. My first thought was, "Another snake?" Then, "It's way too cold; it's 33 degrees," having dropped over 45 degrees last night. The third thought was, "Well, this one is for Kimberlee, who likes garter snakes and lives in No-Reptile-Land in northern Alaska."

Well, it turned out to be a glass lizard. (Sorry, Kimberlee.) It had found a warm spot for the night: the ashes from our burn pile where we burned some yard trash yesterday.

I don't think it was the same one as I encountered in October. This one has a round pattern on the top of its head that is absent in the pictures of the other one.

From the looks of its tail, it is in the process of regenerating a new one. It is lighter in color and has less pattern on it.

 

An earthworm also recognized the relative warmth and was bravely (or ignorantly) sharing the space with a critter that might well wake up a little more and have it for breakfast.

Overhead, crows were calling and a red-shouldered hawk perched in the sunny top of an oak, screaming a warning,

 

so I covered the glass lizard with a few more blackened pieces of wood so as not to tempt those birds to have it for breakfast.