"I Ain't Sharin'" (for the color version, see text)

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

 

Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis Muralis) With Prey (Vanessa Atlanta), 10-2022, Ticino, Switzerland

 

You can find the COLOR VERSION of the photo here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...

 

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

 

ABOUT THE PHOTO:

Photographing the common wall lizards in my garden is not very hard - photographing them while they are having a meal, on the other hand, very much is.

 

The reason for that, as I've only recently come to realize, is that the lizards in my garden are completely and utterly paranoid. Not about everything, mind; theirs is a very specific paranoia: they believe I want to steal their food.

 

This is obviously highly irrational on their part (I mean, everyone knows I've stopped putting snails and worms and caterpillars in my mouth at the age of two, and I rarely have a craving in that regard these days 😉 ).

 

And to those of you who now immediately jump to the poor lizards' defense and point out that I'm not qualified to make such a statement about their mental state as long as they haven't been properly diagnosed by a, ahm... expert (maybe a lizard psychiatrist can weigh in on the matter 😛), I say: I hear you, but I believe my reasoning is sound, and I ask you to reserve judgement until I've presented my case.

 

First of all, you have to understand that the lizards in my garden know me, and I know them. They're territorial animals who have a lifespan of 7-10 years, so we've encountered each other pretty much in the same spots over long stretches of time, and at this point in our relationship we're on friendly enough terms that they mostly tolerate me on "their turf" without fleeing.

 

There are rules of course - sudden, hectic human movements are highly frowned-upon in the lizard community - but I'm usually able to approach my reptile friends up to a distance of around 50 cm with my camera.

 

And being the nature nerd and animal paparazzo that I am, I have observed and shot these lizards many, many times; I've captured them up close and from every angle and in any possible situation - but in almost four decades of visiting the Podarcis muralis population in my garden I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I have been able to catch one while it was eating.

 

This has always struck me as peculiar; the little wannabe dinosaurs never look like they are starving (indeed, some I'd even call downright chubby - though not to their faces of course 😉 ), so they are obviously getting enough food: I just hardly ever see one "in the act" of actually gulping down its prey.

 

Now the few times I DID see them devour some slimy treat, their behavior towards me was rather strange. The lizard in the photo above is a good example for how every such encounter went. The fella's the current lord of the outer bathroom wall, and I spotted him with this gigantic caterpillar in his mouth - a Vanessa atlanta - in front of the bathroom window one morning as I was brushing my teeth.

 

As is ever the case with me on such occasions, I immediately went to grab the camera and stormed out of the house (toothpaste foam all over my mouth which must have looked as if I had rabies to anyone spotting me, but I guess by now my poor neighbors are neither surprised nor shocked anymore at any ridiculous state and/or situation they find me in when I'm trying to get a photo 😂)

 

Slowly and very carefully I approached the lizard. He was still in the process of adjusting the caterpillar in his mouth in order to be able to gulp it down, but the moment he saw me - and I was still at least 3 meters away - he started to retreat while immediately trying to devour the caterpillar.

 

For every slow step I took towards him, he retreated a little further, frantically chewing on his prize, eyes blazing at me. And it was obvious he didn't see me as a threat to his life: he saw me as competition! He had this fierce, defiant look on his face, and I thought it was very clear what he believed my intentions were: I had come to steal his caterpillar.

 

It wasn't an easy shot to begin with (the lizard was backlit by the bright morning sun, and the brightness was made worse because the light was reflected by the nearly white bathroom wall), so I started first to curse and then to negotiate - which is my usual go-to pattern when the objects of my photographic desire are being difficult 😜).

 

- Me: "😡👿💢⚡!!! Dude, I just want a photo, what's the matter with you?!"

 

- The lizard (telling me with his eyes): "Mine! You can't have any! Don't come any closer, rabid pink giant!"

 

- Me: "Come on, just a little closer so I can get more of you than a dark silhouette..."

 

- The lizard: "Yes, it's delicious, I know, but I ain't sharing: get your own caterpillar!"

 

- Me: "Slowly now, relax... Come on, you KNOW me dude, I don't mean you no harm! Just a little closer..."

 

- The lizard: "You're not foolin' me buster: who wouldn't want such a tasty treat for themselves: have you seen how juicy it is?"

 

At the two-meter mark he finally bounced, and I guess I was lucky to have gotten a usable shot at all, since none of my previous lizard-with-prey encounters had resulted in a photo (with the exception of the "cannibal incident" already mentioned elsewhere www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI )

 

So, maybe after reading this strange anecdote you can appreciate why I'm so convinced now the lizards in my garden are paranoid about me wanting to steal their food.

 

The only explanation for this irrational fear I can come up with is that they've witnessed me feasting on sausages when I was having barbecues in the garden (I guess from a lizards' perspective, I giant bratwurst COULD look like a big, juicy worm or caterpillar... 😉 ).

 

Anyway, I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments 🙏 😊 ❤!

 

P.S. This photo here was very much inspired by the works of ANNETTE FRINZL (do yourself a favor and check out her amazing photostream here: www.flickr.com/photos/168598254@N04/ ) It was Annette's incredibly versatile art that made me realize what this lizard photo needed, and although it's nowhere near as skillfully processed as her works, I just want to express my gratitude for giving me the inspiration! Cheers, Annette!! 🙏🙏🙏!!!

Done