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Wildlife watch: The common lizard
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Monday, 26 June 2023 at 4:45 pm
Could there be lizards giving birth to live young in your garden? Kate Bradbury explains how to identify this little reptile and shares ways you can try to lure them into your garden
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The common lizard is a small lizard that can be found sunbathing on walls and logs out in the open, close to dense vegetation where it can quickly take cover if a predator appears. It’s typically found in woodland, grassland and heathland, but does turn up in gardens – if you have lizards you’re very lucky indeed.
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It looks similar to a newt, but is larger, growing to 15cm in length, compared to the smooth newt’s 10cm, and is green-brown with spots or stripes along its flanks. Males have bright yellow or orange spotted undersides, while female bellies are plain and paler. Mating takes place in April and May. Unusually among lizards, the female ‘incubates’ her eggs inside her body and 'gives birth' to up to 11 live young in July. While carrying the eggs, she has a bloated, ‘pregnant’ look.
Cold blooded, common lizards spend the morning basking until they’re warm. Only then do they hunt for food, typically spiders and insects.
How to attract lizards to your garden
To attract lizards to your garden you need to create the perfect habitat for them.
Let areas of grass grow long so they can take shelter when they need to, any grass will do but you could lay wildflower turf or plant wildflower plugs in an existing lawn to make it prettier.
Build a log pile in or near the long grass so the lizards can dart to safety quickly. A low wall, strategically placed stones or pile of stones would also work well.
The common lizard eats invertebrates such as spiders, grasshoppers and flies. Make sure there’s plenty for them to eat by growing more native plants, such as primroses, forget-me-not and foxgloves, and letting ‘weeds’ like dandelions and clover flourish.
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More wildlife inspiration
- Go wild in July
- Your July wildlife gardening jobs
- July wildlife gardening with Monty
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