Sacha wrote in
:

On 26/7/04 22:35, in article
51, "Victoria Clare"
wrote:

I once found three apparently dead lizards on
the path standing like statues one frosty morning. To my surprise,
when I picked one up, it jerked like a mechanical toy.

As I wasn't sure if this was postmortem action or life, I brought
them inside and warmed them up in an old fishtank by the window.
Once they were back in action, and the afternoon had warmed the
paving stones, I let them out on the path and they vanished like
lightening.

If a cat had got hold of them when they were paralysed, they'd have
been munched.


Just a thought *and* a question. WOULD a cat have got them? IOW,
were they playing dead to keep predators away? Maybe and perhaps?

I don't think they were up to moving, or surely they'd have run away
when I picked them up? I just picked them up between finger and thumb
like little plastic statuettes, at which point they each made one sad
little jerky wiggle and then froze again.

No sign of taildropping or the frantic rushing about they did later in
the day.

Possibly a cat would not have been interested in lizards that sat still
and moved only very slightly, but my feeling was that the jerky wiggle
on being first patted would probably arouse some interest, and further
patting in an attempt to get them to do it again.

One of my cats steals pencil rubbers, and rubbers don't move at all!

Though the greatest risk was probably being trodden on, as the lizards
were sat right in the middle of the path up to the house. I almost trod
on them myself.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--