{"id":7667,"date":"2024-04-08T00:30:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T00:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/?p=7667"},"modified":"2024-04-08T00:30:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T00:30:24","slug":"western-fence-lizards-are-out-at-tin-can-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/western-fence-lizards-are-out-at-tin-can-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Fence lizards are out at Tin Can Point"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_1077\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canyoncartography.com\/fence-lizard\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/canyoncartography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/fence-lizard-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1077\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This turquoise colored fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) was seen out in the warmth of early Spring at Tin Can Point. Tin Can Point is just up from Fern Lodge Junction on the Gabrielino Trail. It\u2019s the first switchback you\u2019d encounter after the trail passes through the canyon live oak forest and then enters the chaparral, just a few minutes up from the trail junction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A beautiful fence lizard basks in the gentle warmth of early Spring at Tin Can Point. &nbsp; See inset of the Chantry Flat \u2013 Mt. Wilson Trails map, below, to see where this point is. &nbsp;As of this writing, &nbsp;a cold wet pacific storm is dropping nearly six days of chilly rain and snow in much of the San Gabriel mountains. &nbsp;Big Santa Anita Canyon dam has received over 5 1\/2\u2033 of rain in the last week. &nbsp;Something I just learned recently about these Western Fence lizards is that their populations have the effect of reducing the incidence of Lyme\u2019s disease in the ticks that live in the chaparral, &nbsp;such as found covering much of the slopes of the Big Santa Anita Canyon! &nbsp;Apparently, a protein in the lizard\u2019s blood kills the bacterium in the tick\u2019s gut, which is good news for hikers and even their dogs during the spring and autumn months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like most reptiles, Western Fence lizards hibernate, at least for a little while each winter throughout their habitats which are wide-spread throughout California. &nbsp;As for food, these lizards eat spiders and various insects such as mosquitos, beetles and grasshoppers. &nbsp; The females lay several small clutches of eggs (3-17) in the spring, the young emerging in the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_1005\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canyoncartography.com\/2019\/04\/27\/hike-chantrys-gabrielino-for-wildflowers\/falling-sign-loop\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/canyoncartography.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Falling-Sign-Loop-814x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1005\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail of Gabrielino Trail section, Chantry Flat \u2013 Mt. Wilson Trails map.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On your next hike out from Chantry Flats, watch for for lizards flitting about on the trails and sunning themselves on the myriad stretches of rock. &nbsp;As for the various types of reptiles to be found in the Big Santa Anita, Western Fence lizards are abundant and deserve a place in the sun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>source: &nbsp;Wikipedia, Western Fence lizards<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A beautiful fence lizard basks in the gentle warmth of early Spring at Tin Can Point. &nbsp; See inset of the Chantry Flat \u2013 Mt. Wilson Trails map, below, to see where this point is. &nbsp;As of this writing, &nbsp;a cold wet pacific storm is dropping nearly six days of chilly rain and snow in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/western-fence-lizards-are-out-at-tin-can-point\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Western Fence lizards are out at Tin Can Point&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[215,295,167,29,226,302],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-ecology","category-nature","category-outdoors","category-wildlife","category-wrightwood-hikes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7668,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions\/7668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital-desert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}