Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Live Oaks and Lizards

Live Oaks are strange trees (to someone who grew up in northern climates). They are evergreen trees, but they completely shed their leaves over a two week period and then grow new ones. This happens during the spring. The two trees in my front garden do this alternatively. This year the one on the right is shedding.


When the new leaves grow in, they will be a beautiful fresh green color. I thought live oaks were the ugliest trees when I first moved here, but now I love their gnarly cragginess.

The lizards are moving slowly right now. Normally, they are not so easy to photograph, but these guys let me get up close. Either they are sluggish from the recent cool weather, or they are getting ready to molt. I'm not an expert on lizards.


Geckos are usually out at night and tend to hide in dark places, so I couldn't miss this photo-opportunity.



This is an anole. They are prettier when they are green. They're often mistaken for chameleons, but they are but distant cousins.



This guy didn't look well at all. Maybe he is molting.

5 comments:

Amy said...

I bet I will be seeing all the anoles and Texas spiny lizards pretty soon. I couldn't believe how many we had last summer. I'm not used to seeing lizards. We moved here from Colorado where there were less bugs and things. Good info about the oaks. I didn't know that about them. They are all around Austin.

Darla said...

The Oaks are neat trees, ours shed twice a year....lizards are out in full force around here...soon to be mating season...I am not looking forward to the skinks though!

Deborah Verhoeven said...

I moved here from Colorado. I know what you mean about the bugs.

We rarely get skinks on our property, but I've seen a few.

Randy Emmitt said...

I know a lot about trees. But I did not know that Live Oaks shed over a 2 week period. Thanks for this info. Not seen any lizards here yet, turtles, newts and frogs yes.

Deborah Verhoeven said...

Yes, the shedding thing surprised me years ago when I first saw it, but my husband reassured me that there was nothing wrong with our oak trees.