Thursday, October 07, 2010

Four Corners Furtherance: Lizards

This is my penultimate post in this series. My final one will be the conclusion entry for Four Corners Furtherance.

Spotting wildlife in the national parks of the southern Utah takes patience. Unlike Yellowstone National Park, it's not a matter of spotting a bunch of parked cars gravitating towards a herd of elk. So the lizards photographed here became photograph-able only when I stood still for a while.

I spent a good part of yesterday researching this post--so I can say with confidence that I've correctly identified each reptile. Click on each image to make it larger.

Up on top is a Side-blotched Lizard, which I photographed along the Hickman Bridge Trail in Capitol Reef National Park. On the upper right is a Western Whiptail--note the characteristic long tail--this one I found on the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park. I couldn't get the entire tail into the picture.

On the center right is a subspecies, the plateau side-blotched lizard, this "herp" was also photographed along the Hickman Bridge Trail.

I only saw collared-lizards in Zion National Park. I encountered the one on the lower right along the Taylor Creek Trail, in the Kolob Canyons section of the park.  Astute readers of this blog will remember I included another photograph of this same lizard in an earlier post.

Note how well each reptile blends in with the scenery.

I only saw one snake during this trip--a rattler--which I reported on in the first entry of this series.

Next: Conclusion

Earlier posts:

More trees
Trees
The gateway to the Arches
Petroglyphs
Arches National Park and the symbol of Utah
A final look at Capitol Reef
Butch Cassidy
Chimney rocks
Fruita
Capitol Reef National Park
The controversial Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
A final look at Bryce
Different scenes of Bryce Canyon
"Hell of a place," Bryce Canyon
Red Canyon
Cedar Breaks
Taylor Creek Trail
Kolob Canyons
The geology of Zion National Park
Overview of Zion National Park
Moqui Cave
Arizona's White Mesa and roadside stands
The dogs of Kayenta
Monument Valley at sunrise
Monument Valley at sunset
The road to Monument Valley
The monument is closed and in the wrong spot
More of Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park and the Ancients
Gerald R. Ford Memorial Highway
Flatlanders battle the Rocky Mountains and a car gets altitude sickness
Buffalo Bill's gravesite
Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch 
My rattlesnake sighting

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