While visiting Yosemite National Park I had my first-ever encounter with this subspecies of Fence Lizard. The habitat of this creature is covered with snow for much of the year.
Though the weather was cool and there was still patches of snow on the ground, these reptiles were out catching the sun’s rays. Sierra Fence Lizards prefer open sunny areas and are often seen basking in the sun on rocks, fallen logs, trees, fences and walls.
These medium-sized lizards are usually about six inches in total length and are covered in spiny gray, tan, or brown scales with a pattern of darker waves or blotches.
Their favored habitats include grassland, sagebrush, broken chaparral, woodland, coniferous forest, farmland and even some urban areas. Here they bask, defend their territories, and feed on beetles, ants, flies, caterpillars and spiders.
A protein in the Sierra Fence Lizard’s blood can kill the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, the most common tick-carried disease in the northern hemisphere. When disease-carrying ticks feed on the lizard’s blood, the disease-causing bacteria are killed and the ticks no longer carry the disease.
It was neat to encounter yet another subspecies of this widespread and adaptable reptile while on my visit to California.