You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine!
African striped skink - Mabuya striata punctatissim
I have a couple of Lizards living in my bathroom court-yard garden and I often find them sunning themselves on the walls or the rocks and tree stumps. These cold-blooded reptiles eat insects such as ants, beetles, larvae and flies, so the ones we get around the house or game lodges are actually very welcome! They also often enter my bathroom, decorating my walls just the way I like it!
Two wooden lizards decorating my bathroom walls, and invitation for the garden variety to come and visit!
A sunny position on the wall is greatly prized.
This lizard gives birth to live young, but other reptiles lay eggs. The lifespan of lizards is between 1 – 3 years. Being cold-blooded means that they don’t have a control mechanism keeping their body temperature constant irrespective of their surroundings. They need the sun to warm their blood and provide them with energy to move and will remain mostly inactive on cold days and may hibernate in winter. There are no poisonous Lizards in southern Africa and South Africa is home to more than 200 lizard species, making it the richest country for lizard diversity in continental Africa.
A sketch I did of one of my lizards last year.
I didn’t know they would be so difficult to sketch! Never again will I say, “How difficult can this be?!” lol!
This little lady (I think!) looks decidedly pregnant!
Looking out into the court-yard from the bathroom
My bathroom as seen from the court-yard with easy access for all the wildlife. The Cape Robin sometimes uses this entrance to take a stroll through the house.
Getting together almost certainly means confrontation! Shortly after I took this photo, the top lizard jumped onto the bottom lizard, sending him (her) scurrying back into the ferns.
All four my resident lizards catching up on some early-morning sunbathing. They are actually also keeping an eye on the hosepipe on the ground, where I'm watering the plants, and as soon as I remove the hosepipe they will all be down for a drink. I do have several water bowls in the garden for them and the birds, but they seem to revel in the running water, preferring to drink directly from the ground.
The court-yard provides lots of cover and a safe haven for them and is also warm enough so that I caught glimpses of them throughout winter.
They are actually very inquisitive and will come real close to have a look at me
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