Western Banded Gecko

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This is a small, nocturnal and delicate-looking lizard with large eyes featuring vertical pupils. This lizard’s eyelids are edged in white. Its small scales are granular and soft and its toes are slender.

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The tail is about as long as the body and usually has indistinct rings. There is a constriction at the base of the otherwise bulky tail. Males have spurs on either side of the body at the base of the tail.

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The Western Banded Gecko occurs in the Mohave and Sonoran deserts and is found in open, arid areas, desert grassland, canyons and hillsides. It is usually associated with rocks or other shelters, but is also is found in sandy dunes.


Active mainly at night, they sometimes can be seen crossing roads during the Summer. When running, they carry their tail curved and over their back. It has been suggested that this mimics the scorpions that share the same habitat.


It avoids the heat of the day by hiding under logs, debris and within moist rock crevices. It can make a squeaking sound if frightened. The tail has specialized fracture planes that allow it to easily break off. However, the regenerated tail is shorter than the original and has different colors, patterns and scales than the original.

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The Western Banded Gecko feeds mainly on small insects and spiders. Prey is stalked in a cat-like manner with the lizard often twitching its tail (like a cat); then, with a final lunge, it is captured in the jaws. After a meal, the gecko cleans its face with its tongue. This small reptile is perhaps the most charming of all the desert inhabitants that I regularly come across when visiting the Las Vegas area.

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A sure sign of Spring is seeing this unique plant with an interesting growth habit. Its flower structure consists of the spadix (Jack) which is an erect spike containing numerous, tiny, green to purple flowers and the sheath-like spathe (pulpit).


Two large green, compound leaves, divided into three leaflets each, emanate upward from a single stalk and provide umbrella-like shade to the flower. The fleshy stalk and leaves lend an almost tropical aura to the plant (though it can be found through the United States as well as parts of Canada).


As protection, this plant contains a high concentration of crystals of calcium oxalate which is a salt of oxalic acid (COOH), a weak acid that is an ingredient in some bleaches and anti-rust metal cleaners. The chemical is infused throughout the plant, protecting it from ingestion by insects and mammals.


In Autumn, Jack-in-the-Pulpit’s mace-like cluster of red berries at the top of an otherwise bare stem has inspired a plethora of folk names.


Jack-in-the-pulpit is a species requiring shade and is found in rich, moist, deciduous woods and floodplains. It is a long-lived perennial and can live to 25 or more years of age.

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Snail-eating Ground Beetle

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There are a lot of species of beetles. Of those many species, there are over 30,000 species known as ground beetles in 1500 genera world wide. The Snail Eater falls into this group. I encountered this one while on a visit to northern California.

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This creature can be found in a variety of habitats, including forests, parks and gardens. It is nocturnal and usually encountered under rocks, logs and the loose bark of downed trees – especially around old, rotting tree stumps and fallen branches.

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The Snail-eating Ground Beetle feeds solely on snails and has a narrow head to enable it to better reach its prey.

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It defends itself is by squirting yellow acid out of its rear end to startle predators attempting to mess with it. The Snail-eating Ground Beetle can also make a noise when picked up that some describe as a squeak, but others refer to as a metallic hiss.

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Both larvae and adults are carnivorous and specialize in eating slugs and snails, as well as eating a range of carrion. They can be found throughout the year, although they hibernate during the coldest winter months.

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This is just another example of one of the really cool beetles that can be found by doing a little bit of looking around.

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California Legless Lizard

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This weekend I had an encounter with a reptile that I’ve never seen before. As adults, California Legless Lizards are around 8 inches in total length. They have small, smooth scales typically colored silver above and yellow below. These lizards have blunt tails.

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They live in loose, sandy soils or leaf litter, typically in sand dunes along the coast. These unusual lizards burrow easily through the sand and feed on sowbugs, spiders, insects and insect larvae. They are found only in California and northern Baja.


How can a reptile that looks so much like a snake be a lizard? One difference is that the California Legless Lizard has moveable eyelids (something snakes do not have). Also, unlike most snakes, many lizards, they have the ability to purposely detach their tails to avoid being eaten by predators.

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Millions of years ago, lizards on five continents independently lost their limbs in order to burrow more quickly into sand or soil, wriggling like snakes. This particular type of reptile is so secretive that in 2013 four new species were discovered in California.

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It was awesome to finally see one of these elusive creatures “in person.”

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California Slender Salamander

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This creature is a lungless salamander that is found primarily in coastal mountain areas of Northern California. It is very commonly encountered and I’ve seen several on my current trip to the Golden State.

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Its “slender” image comes from short limbs, a long, slender body with a narrow head and a very long tail. This gives them a worm-like appearance.

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Like other lungless salamanders, they conduct respiration through their skin and their mouth tissues, which requires them to live in damp environments on land and to move about on the ground only during times of high humidity.

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As you might imagine, an animal this small has plenty of predators. For defense. the California Slender Salamander Slender salamanders use several defense tactics, including coiling and remaining still, relying on cryptic coloring to avoid detection.

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They also can uncoil quickly and spring away, repeatedly bouncing over the ground, then remaining still again to avoid detection. If grapped this amphibian can detach its tail, which wriggles on the ground to distract a predator from the salamander long enough for it to escape.


They are predators themselves, and use a sit-and-wait technique, catching prey that wanders by with their projectile tongue. Their diet consists of a variety of invertebrates, including springtails, small beetles, snails, mites, spiders and isopods.

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The lifestyle of this tiny salamander remind me of one that I frequently encounter in my home state of Ohio – the Redback Salamander. Seeing either amphibian in the field is always an enjoyable experience.

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