not for the timid ... "our" LIZZY

THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS is Lizzy. (an alligator lizard) We found him/her in our garden shed about 9 mos ago & early on- we left the doors open when the Captain would be doing yard work .... but the critter seemed to prefer to stay IN THE shed. A couple weeks later, we noticed Lizzy had shed a full skin & we sorta figured he/she had filled up on bugs or? At the time, we thought Lizzy was probably able to get out between the doors if he wanted- but as time went on, & he was growing larger, we had our doubts. It wasn't long before the Captain bought him a few crickets. Next thing I know there is also a water dish and by fall .... there was a warming rock and with each week's supply of crickets, Lizzy was growing (and another shedding took place too)

well even though we have since left the doors open a couple of times .... it appears Lizzy is waaaay too comfortable where he is, and now we're concerned that he just wouldn't know what to do with himself if we let him loose anyway. It's a little bit of a guess, but I would estimate that he is practically twice the size of when we first discovered him. He's roughly 14" or so. He seems to know when it is cricket time, as he lets Ken get close without hissing as he used to, as he holds the dish the entire time Lizzy is feeding (these crickets were about an inch long) .... and today, Ken even grabbed his tail to balance him as he was moving the food dish.hmmmm, what happens when we go on vacation???

on a much less threatening note ..... our apple crop is awesome .... although we neglected to thin out the clusters, so we aren't sure how big they'll get (or if the squirrels will get to them before they are ripe for picking!!)