Notice: Undefined index: forum_id in /home/sites/herpetofauna.org.uk/public_html/forum_archive/forum_posts.php on line 69 Deprecated: mysql_connect(): The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future: use mysqli or PDO instead in /home/sites/herpetofauna.org.uk/public_html/forum_archive/forum_posts.php on line 73

RAUK - Archived Forum - Common lizard sounds

This contains the Forum posts up until the end of March, 2011. Posts may be viewed but cannot be edited or replied to - nor can new posts be made. More recent posts can be seen on the new Forum at http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/forum/

Forum Home

Common lizard sounds:

Author	Message
Aodan123 Member Joined: 23 Jan 2006 No. of posts: 6 View other posts by Aodan123	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 Does anyone know what sounds, if any, common lizards make? I have read they make high-pitched notes like shrews. Aodan12338972.5550462963

Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 Is the sound one of distress when they are attacked or for some other reason? I've never heard a peep from one but maybe it's a frequency I can't hear. Suz

Aodan123 Member Joined: 23 Jan 2006 No. of posts: 6 View other posts by Aodan123	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 The letter I've read (from Brit. J. Herpet. in 1953) said they made the sound apparently after being alarmed and that it was possible that the sounds are only audible to some persons

Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 Interesting. I couldn't say for sure that they make no vocal sounds, but if they do I've never heard it, and I've surprised and caught a few! Steve Langham - Chairman Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG).

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 Can't say I've ever heard them make a sound either and I must catch several hundred a year, can it be we are all getting too long in the tooth to hear them! Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi	Posted: 12 Sep 2006 Gemma I didn't like to be the one to say it! Suz

Ray999 Senior Member Joined: 07 Mar 2006 No. of posts: 101 View other posts by Ray999	Posted: 13 Sep 2006 Hi Gemma how do manage to catch so many,in my youth I could catch them just with my hands and a lot of patience this year so far I have caught one,so whats the secret. Ray ray999

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 13 Sep 2006 eh? what did you say Suzi didn't quite hear that.. hang on I'll turn up my hearing aid Hi Ray, secret is artificial refugia at high densities during relocations projects. I find it almost impossible to catch lizards in the open, though sometimes with a bit of belief it is possible to leap on them. I have a noose which sometimes works but is useless on our current job because there isn't enough vegetation after the hot summer to hide in! The easiest method is to catch the lizards from under the artificial refugia. You lift the refugia and cup your hand and drop it down on them and then carefully pick them out of the vegetation. Bit of a knack to it but it comes with practice. Even in todays warm temperatures I managed to catch six common lizards using this method, though it does rely on just the right conditions when the lizards are under the refugia and not on them. I would be interested if anyone has had any success netting lizards off the top of refugia. Seems like a method that could work but I've not had much success with it using a small rigid framed net. Any thoughts? Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar	Posted: 13 Sep 2006 HI Gemma, I've not used nets with Zv, as you can usually pin them with a cupped hand as you say, although I never really try on refugia, I prefer some soft vegetation beneath the target. But...try that technique with Wall lizards! they are fast!...very low success rate personally. Two methods have shown some success with these fast lizards. Using a no-depth net. Basically imagine a short tennis racquet, with taught netting. This can be used to smother the animal, then pinned with finger & thumb, and retrieved with the free hand. The other method which can work...(trust me here)...is a small mammal trap using strawberry jam as bait . Yes, I know how mad this sounds, but it does work. Steve Langham - Chairman Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG).

Ray999 Senior Member Joined: 07 Mar 2006 No. of posts: 101 View other posts by Ray999	Posted: 14 Sep 2006 Hi Gemma How many disappear into the undergrowth under your hand.I have tried a fishing net on open ground but they just dissapear into the grass. Ray ray999

Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar	Posted: 14 Sep 2006 Ray, When you smother them with a cupped hand, it compresses the vegetation around them also, making escape that way more difficult...although not impossible! It's common to disentangle them from the bit of grass they have 'burrowed' into. Steve Langham - Chairman Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG).

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 14 Sep 2006 In my experience very few disappear into the undergrowth. As Steve has said the trick is they end up kind of compressed in the undergrowth under your hand. The tricky bit is getting them out of the vegetation without losing them usually. It can be heart stopping when you can feel the lizard under your cupped hand and know it isn't 'in the bag' until you extract it with the other hand, especially fun with delicate little juveniles. Now the mammal trap with strawberry jam... I will have to try this at a secret location me thinks in case this is a wind up Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Aodan123 Member Joined: 23 Jan 2006 No. of posts: 6 View other posts by Aodan123	Posted: 14 Sep 2006 Do you think they find burrowing in harder when the vegetation is quite damp?

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 14 Sep 2006 I'm not sure, generally the vegetation is dry under refugia. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar	Posted: 20 Sep 2006 ROFL Gemma! The 'jam-trick' only works for Wall lizards (as far as I know). Presumably fallen fruit etc is part of their 'normal' diet. Steve Langham - Chairman Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG).

herpetologic2 Senior Member Joined: 15 Jun 2004 No. of posts: 1369 View other posts by herpetologic2	Posted: 20 Sep 2006 If you cup your hand over a lizard an easy way of capturing the animal is to slightly move your fingers apart and the little critter will try to escape - thus you can gently catch the animal between your fingers Jon Vice Chair of ARG UK - self employed consultant - visit ARG UK & Alresford Wildlife

- Common lizard sounds

Content here