Comments on: Animal Encounters on the Four Corners trip by Alyssa Langley (edited by MaryAnn McGarry) http://fourcorners.blogs.plymouth.edu/2006/05/02/animal-encounters-on-the-four-corners-trip/ a bio-geo-outdoor course on the Colorado Plateau Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:24:30 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: mmcgarry http://fourcorners.blogs.plymouth.edu/2006/05/02/animal-encounters-on-the-four-corners-trip/comment-page-1/#comment-6 mmcgarry Sun, 07 May 2006 17:05:41 +0000 http://fourcorners.blogs.plymouth.edu/2006/05/02/animal-encounters-on-the-four-corners-trip/#comment-6 I have noticed the great abundance of lizards on each of my three trips to the Colorado Plateau in the last three years. Upon recently rereading the children's book, 'Desert Voices' by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall (they remain one of my favorite teams), I thought about the fact that lizards are like turtles, the young emerge from eggs laid in the sand. I've been intrigued for years with snapping turtles burying their eggs on the shore of Hopkins Pond, ME, where we have a camp. I wondered for the first time how common it was to witness baby lizards climbing out of the sand. I read Baylor's words, "When my mother laid her eggs she looked for sand that was just right. It had to be damp and it had to be warmed all day by sun. Down in the sand she buried her eggs. When she left, she didn't come back. There wasn't any need to. Sand and sun are mother enough for lizards." I had a whole new appreciation for the lizards I observed on the Colorado Plateau and I tried to imagine what kind of evidence if any would be left after the baby lizards climbed out of their nest and went searching for their first meal. Two such different organisms- lizards and turtles, and two such different ecosystems- the high desert and the shore of a temperate lake, and yet there was a connection for me, because both places I visit regularly and are therefore special places to which I feel connected. I have noticed the great abundance of lizards on each of my three trips to the Colorado Plateau in the last three years. Upon recently rereading the children’s book, ‘Desert Voices’ by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall (they remain one of my favorite teams), I thought about the fact that lizards are like turtles, the young emerge from eggs laid in the sand. I’ve been intrigued for years with snapping turtles burying their eggs on the shore of Hopkins Pond, ME, where we have a camp. I wondered for the first time how common it was to witness baby lizards climbing out of the sand.

I read Baylor’s words, “When my mother laid her eggs she looked for sand that was just right. It had to be damp and it had to be warmed all day by sun. Down in the sand she buried her eggs. When she left, she didn’t come back. There wasn’t any need to. Sand and sun are mother enough for lizards.” I had a whole new appreciation for the lizards I observed on the Colorado Plateau and I tried to imagine what kind of evidence if any would be left after the baby lizards climbed out of their nest and went searching for their first meal.

Two such different organisms- lizards and turtles, and two such different ecosystems- the high desert and the shore of a temperate lake, and yet there was a connection for me, because both places I visit regularly and are therefore special places to which I feel connected.

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