My family headed up to the OKC area for a wedding this weekend. On the way we stopped at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, which is always good for my favorite lizard, the collared lizard or "mountain boomer," or as my daughter calls them, "mountain bloomers."
There were threats of thunderstorms Friday morning and I was worried the cloud cover would prevent the lizards from showing their full color potential, but as we pulled into the visitor center I had a good feeling, especially since I found a female in shed perched atop a boulder 20 feet from the car. Here's a picture of her in a less natural setting, a bike rack, but one where she was equally comfortable--before this picture she had taken refuge in the pipe.
Walking the boulder fields around the outside of the visitor center revealed a happy couple, the female apparently having just deposited eggs.
Here's a closeup of the male:
The female, with dirt still caked atop her snout due to recent nesting activity:
Further out in the field adjacent to the visitors center was this apparently as-yet gravid female:
And from a different angle:
As far as female boomers go, these are about as pretty as I've seen, with a lot of yellow anteriorly. I hear the ones from the Permian oil fields in west Texas are pretty bright yellow as well.
The rain stayed away until after we departed the refuge. I shot over 40 pics of the 4 collareds; like I said, they're my favorite!
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet
