Mother Bugger !!!

While I was installing a new front door on the house.  My wife was outside watering the flowers & plants in the front flower bed.  And saw something move.

It must have arrived on one of the tropical plants she bought.  It's apparently a "Green Anole" that's native to Southern United States.  It turns green when warm.  Which is why it's brown today (it's only about 16˚C here today).
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Hehe that's cute, is it a lizard or an amphibian? It kinda looks like a newt, but with a thinner tail

chris.75 wrote:Hehe that's cute, is it a lizard or an amphibian? It kinda looks like a newt, but with a thinner tail

It's apparently a lizard.  It grows to 6 - 8 inches (15.5 - 20.3 cm) long.  It probably arrived as an egg, on the tropical palm potted plant or one of the other tropical plants that my wife bought for the front flower bed.

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Green Anoles are really neat

When I lived in Florida they were everywhere but I have never seen them even as far north as Oklahoma . Are you going to keep it ? It will never survive the cold Canada winter unless you bring it inside .

ourchickenshack wrote:Green Anoles are really neat

When I lived in Florida they were everywhere but I have never seen them even as far north as Oklahoma . Are you going to keep it ? It will never survive the cold Canada winter unless you bring it inside .

It took us a while to figure out what it was.  We knew it wasn't a salamander and it wasn't native to our area.

The neighbours have family with some other lizards, so they offered to take it.  They already have the tanks and heat lamps, food, etc.,  to look after it.

It would have been a lizard popcycle, if it had to spend a few more nights or weeks outside.

Nice selection of butterflies around your house & garden. The local Monarchs have just started making their way south.

It was only 4˚C last night. So the lizard wouldn't have lasted very long, if we didn't find it.

Great buterfly pics James

Cool to hear the lizard is safe and being looked after

Wow! That thing is gorgeous!

That is MASSIVE! Never seen anything like that before.

James, That's an awesome moth. I've never seen anything like it before.

My wife has been rescuing Monarch caterpillars all summer long, and then caring for them until they reach the butterfly stage. I think she has a swallow tale caterpillar in it's chrysalis at the moment as well. I'll try and get some pictures.

ChristianC wrote:That is MASSIVE! Never seen anything like that before.

Your talking about James's hand, right?

HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Commander Clint wrote:James, That's an awesome moth.  I've never seen anything like it before.

My wife has been rescuing Monarch caterpillars all summer long, and then caring for them until they reach the butterfly stage.  I think she has a swallow tale caterpillar in it's chrysalis at the moment as well.  I'll try and get some pictures.

That is super cool Clint , I would love to see the pics

My wife was photographing the butterflies all summer, so I had her forward me a few pictures.  I'll post some more tomorrow.

Here are some of the Monarch Caterpillars on the Milkweed plants.

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brilliant photos guys, nature is great!

That is a huge freaking moth. I don't think I've ever seen one of those.

I have had very few interesting outdoor experiences this summer. I saw a huge centipede during the 3 days I was camping.

When the caterpillars are ready to form the chrysalis, they try and find a high spot.  They then bend into a "J" shape.  This one crawled underneath our patio table.

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When they first form the chrysalis, it's a bright light green colour.

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After about 10 days.  The chrysalis starts to get darker green & finally almost clear.

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I think this monarch butterfly is a male.  Apparently the 2 little black spots on the back of the wings is the way to tell.

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That is so cool Clint , huge props to your awesome wife

ourchickenshack wrote:That is so cool Clint , huge props to your awesome wife

Thanks James. She must have raised about 30 or more Monarchs this year. There are still a few waiting to hatch.

Sorry for the late reply. We were at wedding. One of my wife's relatives. The wedding was at their buffalo farm. I have some pictures to post later.