World Lizard Day

This week’s blog is in celebration of lizards.

Those 4 (but sometimes no) legged reptiles come in all different shapes and sizes. From the smallest, the Jaragua Lizard measuring in length 16mm, to the largest lizard in the world, the Komodo Dragon, growing to lengths of up to 3m. That’s 1,875 times bigger.

Komodo Dragon, World Lizard Day blog.
Komodo Dragon

Lizards can be found in 6 of the 7 continents, everywhere except Antarctica and most oceanic islands chains. Most lizards have four legs, but there are some exceptions. There are over 200 species of legless lizard. A lot of people think these are snakes, but in fact they are lizards. The main difference is that legless lizards have eyelids, meaning they can blink, whereas snakes have no moveable eyelids. In fact our native slow worm is a legless lizard. How to help native lizards like slow worms is at the bottom of this blog.

Lizards have some very unique adaptations, Chameleons are a prime example with the way that they feed. They are primarily insectivores, feeding on insects with their long sticky tongues. They do this by projecting their tongue from their mouth with huge force, reaching the insect in as little 0.07 seconds.

Yemen Chameleon at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent
Yemen Chameleon

Some geckos such as Tokays have very specialised feet, which allow them to climb vertically on surfaces, even glass. Their feet have tiny little hairs called setae. There is a lot of research into how these actually work. “A recent study suggests that gecko adhesion is mainly determined by electrostatic interaction (caused by contact electrification)”.

Tokay gecko at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent
Tokay Gecko
Tokay gecko foot with setae at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent.

The Green or Plumed Basilisk lizard, also known as the Jesus lizard can “walk on water”. Well not really. It can run across water for short distances. Allowing it to be able to get away from predators quickly. It is also an excellent swimmer using its long tail to help propel itself through the water. Having witnessed this feat in the wilds of Costa Rica, it is definitely a distinct sight to see and one that I will not forget.

Plumed basilisk in Costa Rica for World Lizard Day blog
Plumed Basilisk

There are also two species of venomous lizards, the Gila Monster and the Beaded Lizard. There venom works by having modified salivary glands which as they chew releases the venom through a duct at the bottom of its grooved teeth into the wound.

Beaded lizard at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent.
Beaded Lizard

Not all lizards are insectivores or carnivorous either, some are vegetarians. The Gray’s Monitor lizard has a very specialised diet. They eat ripe fruit, which is highly unusually for a monitor lizard as well as insects, birds and eggs.

Gray's monitor at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent
Gray’s Monitor

Rhino Iguanas are herbivorous, consuming a diet made up from leaves, flowers, fruits and berries. However, individuals have been seen to consume insects, smaller lizards and snakes, making them opportunities carnivores.

Rhinoceros Iguana at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent.
Rhinoceros Iguana

Here at Wingham we have 16 species of lizards amongst our reptile collection;

Bearded Dragon, Green Basilisk, Rhino Iguana, Tokay Gecko, New Caledonian Giant Gecko, Wonder Gecko, African Fat Tailed Gecko, Mindy Gecko, Sudan Plated Lizard, Schneider’s Skink, Yemen Chameleon, Mexican Beaded Lizard, Gila Monster, Gray’s Monitor, Nile Monitor and Argus Monitor.

What you can do to help native lizard species

There are a lot of things you can do in your own gardens to attract and help native lizard species.

Compost heaps provide a warm and safe shelter for reptiles like slow worms in the winter. They can also provide food by attracting insects to the compost. If you do have a compost heap in your garden, make sure to check through it first before digging it out with a spade to use on your flower beds. You may have a resident slow worm living there.

Log heaps provide shelter and hiding spaces for lizards too. They also attract their food such as insects to the heap for the same reasons. You can buy bug hotels, but these often hang up and a slow worm can’t climb up to use it. Why not try placing some of these on the ground, or build your own. There are many websites now that offer advice about creating bug hotels and hibernaculum for native species, such as www.wildlifetrusts.org

Here at Wingham we have quite a few areas that are left to attract native species. Our lake, with native plants, such as buddleia and nettles attracts many butterflies and other insects. These in turn attract birds and frogs. We also have a completely untouched area behind our wolf house, where the native plants are able to grow and attract more species such as bats. We haven’t seen any native reptiles but that’s not to say they aren’t there as they can be very elusive.

I hope you enjoy World Lizard Day and finding out more about our native and exotic wildlife here at Wingham.

About Ruth - Head Keeper

Ruth is the head keeper at Wingham Wildlife Park, having been with the park since 2008. When the park was first taken over all of the keepers looked after all of the species, and as such Ruth has a wide range of abilities with the animals here, giving her the right skill set as our head keeper. When she is out of the office (which is most of the time), she specialises in primates.