California whiptail
Image copyright by Mark A. Chappell
California whiptails are sleek, shiny, very alert lizards
found in many habitats in the western US. Like many lizards they are most
active on warm days; unlike many familiar reptiles they are wandering hunters
(not sit-and-wait ambushers). Whiptails continually move around, poking
under leaves and in crevices, looking for prey. Consequently they are hard
to catch and harder to photograph; I found this one basking briefly in the
sun in the Box Springs Mountains near Riverside, CA. I used a big telephoto
lens to avoid alarming the animal, but as you can see, it kept an eye on
me constantly.