christinarscanlon's Identifications

Found outside my house on my front step outside my door. Frequently seen in this same place near doorbell. Also two other H. turcicus are frequently seen in this same area. One is about the same size, growing back a new tail and the other is much larger in size. Easy catch.

Caught after it was flushed from a gravelly bank into the Pecos. The banks here are large expanses of white gravel and sand matrix interspersed with moderately sized rocks. The water it escaped into was a sheltered portion of the river which was continuous with the rest, but stagnant and topped with algae.

Once into the water, it moved much more slowly and awkwardly than on land - I'm not sure why it chose to attempt to flee through the river. The water was perhaps more directly away from me than was the land to either side, but these lizards are sufficiently more agile than me that I probably wouldn't have been able to get to it by hand before it escaped if it had stayed on land.

Relatively large individual - about 6cm SVL. Also probably the most beautifully colored one that I've seen. Looks as though the tail had grown back after being lost - and when it did, it mostly failed to regrow the black undertail blotches which are characteristic of this species!