THE COLLARED LIZARD. 



{Crotaphytus collaris.) 



The Collared or Ring-necked Lizard 

 may be found among the rocks and open 

 woods of the plateau or in desert regions 

 from southern Missouri southward into 

 Mexico, westward to southeastern Cali- 

 fornia and northward to southern Idaho. 

 However, this is its general range, and it 

 is not common over all this territory. 

 Though it has been known to ascend to 

 an altitude of nearly six thousand feet, 

 yet it does not seem to have crossed the 

 Sierra Nevada range, as it has not been 

 observed at any point on the Pacific coast 

 or the interior of California. 



The Collared Lizard is so called be- 

 cause of the black bars, which resemble a 

 collar, and are situated between the fore 

 legs and extend across the back of the 

 animal. They vary greatly in color, de- 

 pending on their age or geographical po- 

 sition. The back is usually some shade 

 of dull or rather dark green, or it may 

 have a bluish cast, with numerous oblong 

 or rounded lighter spots, which may be 

 either whitish, or various shades of red, 

 orange or yellow. These spots may be 

 quite definite or they may form quite con- 

 tinuous bands. The variations in color 

 are much more marked in the young. 



Dr. Cope tells us that ''it runs very 

 swiftly, carrying the tail over its back. In 

 its manners it is perhaps the most pug- 

 nacious of our lizards, opening its mouth 

 when cornered, and biting savagely. Its 

 sharp teeth can do no more than slightly 

 cut the skin." 



Mr. Frank M. Woodruff relates the 

 following interesting account of his ex- 

 periences with this lizard : "I found the 

 Collared Lizard at three points in Mis- 

 souri — Vineland, DeSoto and Pilot Knob. 

 They are restricted to the rocky slades, 

 where they live with the scorpions and 



the rattlesnakes. The only place where I 

 found them abundant was between Vine- 

 land and the old Kingston mines. Dur- 

 ing the hot summer months they make 

 their appearance upon the broad slabs of 

 rock, often quite a distance from their 

 lairs. When disturbed they make a dash 

 to escape and usually in the direction that 

 leads to their accustomed crevice, even 

 though the intruder is in its path. I 

 have had them run almost across my feet 

 in their frantic efforts to hide. They are 

 a somewhat terrifying object as they run 

 toward you. At this time they apparent- 

 ly assume a partly upright position, 

 looking for all the world like a small edi- 

 tion of Mephistopheles. The negroes are 

 mortally afraid of them. They call them 

 'Glade Devils,' and the more supersti- 

 tious believe that the souls of the very 

 bad negroes reside in them. A negro will 

 never go through a glade frequented by 

 this species, and will make a long detour 

 to avoid doing so. The only time I ever 

 saw a negro 'turn gray' was when I 

 brought one of these lizards to Ironton 

 and asked for assistance in capturing it 

 when it escaped. They are so swift in 

 their movements that I found the best 

 method of capturing them was by tying a 

 noose of fine copper wire to a fish pole. 

 This can be slipped over their heads, as 

 they lie sunning themselves, as they seem 

 to pay but little attention to the loop as it 

 touches them. By exercising caution it 

 is possible to approach from the rear to 

 within eight or ten feet without exciting 

 them. They make delightful pets, if a 

 lizard can be considered such. By feed- 

 ing them through the winter on meal 

 worms and in the summer on flies and 

 grasshoppers they can be kept for a year 

 or more." 



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