Seeing eye-to-eye with a lizard

During a quiet moment in the garden Sunday morning, this western fence lizard was brave enough to pose for a few pictures. He'd heard about the recent massacres of his reptilian relatives by Smooch and Deets and was a bit camera-shy at first.


He stuck around long enough to provide me a quote on auto insurance, then scurried off to slurp bugs.


Further research into the species has turned up this very interesting fact:
It is thought that the presence of western fence lizards diminishes the danger of transmission of Lyme disease by ticks. The incidence of Lyme disease is lower in areas where the lizards occur, and it has been found that when ticks carrying Lyme disease feed on these lizards (which they commonly do, especially around their ears), the bacteria that cause the disease are killed.

Who knew?