We have lizards???

rabb_lbad

Somebody told me recently that we have a lizard called the "common lizard" which is native to Ireland. I'm 30 and have never seen, on these lands, such an aptly named reptile in all my years. Perhaps its a miniature relative of the also elusive and mysterious Nessy of the scottish hylands?

Has anyone seen a so called "Common Lizard"?
Where might one spot a common lizard?
i'm on a mission!!

javaboy

rabb_lbad wrote: »

Somebody told me recently that we have a lizard called the "common lizard" which is native to Ireland. I'm 30 and have never seen, on these lands, such an aptly named reptile in all my years. Perhaps its a miniature relative of the also elusive and mysterious Nessy of the scottish hylands?

Has anyone seen a so called "Common Lizard"?
Where might one spot a common lizard?
i'm on a mission!!

A recent survey found the common lizard (Ireland's only reptile) in about 23 of the 26 counties of the ROI or else it was 29 out of 32 counties. Glendalough had the most sightings but it wasn't a very scientific study. I think it mostly relied on reports from members of the public which would explain why a popular area like Glendalough would have a lot of sightings. There was an article in the Irish Times a few weeks back about it. Give it a google.

EDIT: Also see this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055076090&highlight=lizard

javaboy

We also have the slow worm in the Burren area but the Irish Wildlife Trust www.iwt.ie website says it is believed to be a recent introduction and non-native.

The Artist

try this
http://www.noticenature.ie/files/enfo/factsheet/en/WL42%20Lizzards%20eng.pdf or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viviparous_lizard

Alun

I've seen quite a few of them up in the Wicklow Mountains in various places. I saw one only last week in fact around Corrigasleggaun near Lugnaquillia. Most time when I do see one, it's only a fleeting glimpse and then they disappear into the undergrowth, so I've never manage to photograph one. They're also nearly always in wet boggy conditions, not sunning themselves on a rock as you might expect of a lizard.

rabb_lbad

Alun wrote: »

I've seen quite a few of them up in the Wicklow Mountains in various places. I saw one only last week in fact around Corrigasleggaun near Lugnaquillia. Most time when I do see one, it's only a fleeting glimpse and then they disappear into the undergrowth, so I've never manage to photograph one. They're also nearly always in wet boggy conditions, not sunning themselves on a rock as you might expect of a lizard.

thanks Alun
That's very interesting i wouldn't have thought to have spotted them around wet boggy areas either. Will have to bring the kids down to wicklow some time over the weekend and see if we can spot one.

rabb_lbad

It's funny this croped up in a conversation and so also did the rumor of vipers inhabiting the dunes in Bull island in Clontarf, another non-native recent introduction. to be honest i don't know if i believe the viper story. Apparently this happened a few years back some one was bitten or stung on the ankle whilst walking through the dunes. he never saw what it was that bit him but suddenly started to feet quite ill. He was rushed to hospital and surprise surprise there was a tropical diseases expert who happened to be visiting from England he came in and examined the guy and told the attending that the patient was bittne by a viper. They said it was impossible but the specialist confidently replied "you check your facts, the man has been bitten by a viper" i consider the guy who told me the story to be a reliable source. He heard this from the guy who was allegedly bitten they shared the same ward together and began echanging old war stories??? I don't know it's bit far fetched for my liking???

Bluefrog

Back when I was a kid (which isn't yesterday or the day before) I was lucky enough to stumble on one in the dunes at Strandhill in Sligo. From what I remember, the one I saw was about the size of the Salamanders we have here with an off-white under-belly and olive back.

Been on the lookout for another one since but never have come across one.

My partner's folks live in Texas and at certain times of the year their house is covered in geckos of about the same size - amazing little creatures.

Hot Dog

saw on up on lug during the summer

tallus

There are quite a few of them in and around glendalough, along the military road too where there are old ruins.

monty_python

i tought ireland and iceland are the only 2 islands in the world with out reptiles????

Killbot2000

Lacerta vivipara or the common lizard is found in Ireland. I got some info from the Phoenix Park about it


The common lizard, Ireland's only reptile, can often be seen sunning itself on dry stone walls, rocks or logs during the summer months. These animals occupy a range of habitats, including woodland, marshes, heath, moors, bogs, sand-dunes and even rubbish dumps.
Lizards are active, alert and extremely quick. Their colouration helps them to blend with their surroundings, and they can disappear into a crevice or under a stone with startling speed at the first sign of disturbance.
Common lizards are usually between 10cm and 16cm (4 inches and 6 inches) long, although larger specimens can reach 18cm (7 inches). They have long bodies, short legs and a long, tapering tail. The coarse, dry scales on the lizard's back can be a variety of colours including grey, brown, copper or green, with a black stripe running down the centre of the back, and a scattering of black spots over the body. Male lizards have orange-yellow bellies with black spots, while females have creamy white bellies usually without spots.
Reptiles, unlike birds and mammals, have no internal temperature regulation system. They rely on the characteristics of their environment and on their patterns of behaviour to control their internal temperature. When they are too cold they bask in the sun, if they get too warm they move into the shade.
Lizards can typically be found basking on sunny days in the morning or the afternoon, but not generally during the middle of the day, when they are in danger of overheating. After cooling overnight, a lizard needs to increase its body temperature to somewhere in the region of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) before it can hunt effectively. They eat insects, spiders, slugs, snails and earthworms: pouncing on their prey and stunning it by shaking before swallowing it whole.
Because they rely on the sun's heat to remain active, lizards are forced to hibernate through the Irish winter. They disappear around October and hibernate until the following March, often in groups, occasionally emerging during warmer spells.
After coming out of hibernation in spring male lizards establish a breeding territory and defend it vigorously against other males. Breeding takes place from March to May. Common lizards are viviparous, which means that the young develop within egg membranes inside the female's body.
After about three months the female lizard will give birth to live, fully developed young that break free of the egg-membranes usually during birth or a few seconds afterwards. Litters consist of 2-12 young born from June to September. Females show no parental care: the young feed actively from birth and quickly disperse.
Lizards can be eaten by larger predators, but as they are active only during the day they rarely encounter nocturnal threats like foxes and badgers. They are taken by birds of prey (they typically form part of the kestrel's diet), and stoats and mink will kill them if they can catch them. Domestic cats pose a real problem for lizards, especially early in the day before they reach full operating temperature. When they are cold the reptiles are sluggish and are easy prey for an inquisitive feline.
To redress the balance somewhat lizards have an intriguing escape mechanism that allows them to evade predators. If caught by the tail, lizards have the ability to shed the lower portion, leaving a bemused predator with a twitching stump while the lizard makes good its escape. If it survives the encounter the lizard will soon grow a new tail.

monty_python

i stand corrected....it would be cool if we had crocidels and anacondas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and tigers and hippos......... lol.... and maybe the odd giraffe here and there

wazzoraybelle

a sunny day at this time of year is the best time to spy them. They have just woken up from hibernation and are still a little slow, during the summer they become very quick and hard to get a close look at.
my cat is forever bringing them into the house!!

RoseBlossom

The poor critters meet their end often enough on quiet roads with stone walls and greenery...they creep out to warm themselves on the road and aren't quick enough to react to the cars. I've seen more this way than any other!

On holidays in Cork once, many moons ago, we found one in our hotel room! I won't name the establishment as it has been extensively refurbished since then!

Mullaghteelin

I saw my first lizard yesterday. I just saw brownish snake-like tail darting into the undergrowth at the edge of the track I was walking along. It was almost directly underfoot and if it hadnt moved I probably wouldnt have noticed it. It had probably been basking in the warm sun. It was around 2pm.

It was along a stretch of the Wicklow Way through Lacken Wood, on the warm south-facing slope of Knockree hill, 7km west of Enniskerry. Coillte Outdoors website gives details about the place if anyones interested.
http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie/index.php?id=53&rec_site=41&no_cache=1

The simple map on the Coillte website shows the Wicklow Way trail following the 250m contour around the south side of the hill, it was along there I saw it. Just minutes earlier along the same path I got a great photo of a deer casually munching some grass while looking straight at me, so I left the place quite satisifed.

michelleans

Used to see loads of these when I was young, my granddad used to call them salamanders and told me they'd bite me

Weidii

This is ironic, I only read this post yesterday and I spotted a lizard today, scuttling across a road near menlo castle. I was quite excited when I saw it (zoologist :rolleyes:) but unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of the thing, it was moving to quickly. They really are incredible creatures.

emsy g

:pI was helping my mother sort out her kitchen a couple of years ago,we pulled the cooker away from the wall and there was a lizard behind it....it was dead still so i lent down to check if it was alive,my finger just touched it lightly and the thing bolted leaving it's tail behind,poor thing thought i was gonna kill it...as you would if your comfy dark warm world suddenly became this bright loud place with some scary giant coming at you ...anyway,the door was open and it got to run free,nice sunny day for it too....i only read the first few lines of the OP's post,just thought i'd throw this in regardless of what is actually being talked about here as it reminded me of this story

bobbysands81

Any pictures of these lizards doing the rounds???

Alun

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Any pictures of these lizards doing the rounds???

I've tried, but by the time I've spotted one and thought "Oh look, there's a lizard!", it's already scuttled off and disappeared into the undergrowth, let alone give me time to get a camera out and take a picture I live in hope though.

There's a few pictures on the web though, such as here ... http://www.iwt.ie/lizards_id.php

Demonique

They look similar to the little lizards in Sorrento, Italy only the Italian ones were greeners. They were quite easy to spot, they'd hang about on the walls of the outdoor restaurant overlooking the bay waiting for crumbs to drop from tables. There were quite a lot of them around our hotel's pool. There was one up a tree and I threw a piece of bread into the air, it went up above the lizard's level, it looked up after the bread and when the bread fell back down it darted down the tree, grabbed it and ran off. The piece of bread was twice the size of its head.
They were also quite partial to pizza

planetX

viviparous lizard, took this in county Galway - we often get them coming in the house.

bobbysands81

Cheers Alun and planetx.

They look just like the ones I'd go chasing as a kid in the Canaries!