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. |
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