This "Outback" features one of the most fascinating creatures from the Red Hills as well as other parts of Kansas--the Eastern Collared Lizard, Crotaphytus collaris. One of the largest lizards in Kansas, this beast can reach lengths of a foot and have very strong jaw muscles; so, don't try to get bitten as they can muster more foot pounds of pressure then you'd prefer to experience. An amazing behavior of this animal is that it will get up and run on its hind legs to escape predators (see included videos.)
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| Male collared lizards sport double black bands on the back of their neck and yellow-orange throats among many other beautiful colors--a handsome animal indeed! |
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| Female collared lizards sport reddish-orange bands while pregnant and are just as handsome as the males although not quite as large. They also bite! |
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| Go ahead, stick that finger right here! |
A running collared lizard on two wheels at normal speed.
A running collared lizard in slow mo.
very cool. always love your blog posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the look. Good to see you last weekend!
DeleteI love the shout-out to the collareds- in my opinion, one of the coolest lizards in Kansas! But the second photo looks like a hatchling, or a very young yearling- the orange bands are on both sexes of very young lizards. The female adult will have red/orange spots laterally on her flanks when she's gravid.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the look. Yes, the second one could be a juvey. However, since it was adult size, I presumed female. I'll take note though. Thanks!
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