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Loving Lounging with Lizards

One of our favourite daily distractions is watching a family of Jacky Dragon Lizards from the kitchen window. They sit atop the dense flowering bushes, feasting on the
smorgasbord of beetles, flies and other pollinators. With a lunge and snap! a fluttering butterfly is reduced to an awkward mouthful of wing and leg. We have a
darker skinned dad, mum with her belly full of eggs and various skittish kids. They’re easily identifiable by their size, colour, bright yellow inner mouth and spiny crest that runs down their back to their long tail. On a lichen covered rock, however, they are almost perfectly camouflaged. Adults are about 25 cm long.
Jacky Dragons are not endangered but many of our scaly friends are in trouble. Urbanization has been disastrous for many of the 850 reptile species that call
Australia home, with 25% listed as endangered. Suburban sprawl, over-zealous ground clearing, plus predation by dogs and cats have all taken their toll. The Hawkesbury has an incredible diversity of geckos, lizards, dragons, skinks and legless lizards, but we need to look after them. Reptiles are a key component of a biodiverse backyard. They pose little or no threat to you or your pets, quite the opposite, their presence will enhance the beauty of your garden and provide natural pest control, for free.
Just like us, lizards require shelter, warmth, variety and a water supply. We’ve all heard of bird baths, but I propose a new backyard project for you and the kids this
summer. Drumroll please: The Lizard Lounge. As they say, build it and they will come!

1. Select a spot in your garden that already has some bushy plants present, offering sun and shade.
2. Collect broken ceramic pots or pipes, rocks and tree hollows, and stack them to create a solid hide for reptiles and safety from predatory birds (kookaburras and currawongs love a lizard lunch) and from pets that may try to dig them out. Please DON’T remove bush rock to create your lizard lounge – its already someone else’s home.
3. Add Australian plants that include groundcovers and native grasses – these attract insects for the lizards to eat and provide extra shelter. Lizards will also eat the berries on ground covers (bobtails love strawberries!).
4. Mulch the area using a natural mix that contains bark, sticks and leaves for smaller lizards to hide under. This also attracts the grubs and insects lizards love.
5. Install a broad flat rock or bricks in a sunny spot for basking. Lizards need to warm up in order to hunt and digest their food.
6. Provide a water source at ground level in a shaded spot – anything other than plastic (which will perish) works well. If it is deep, add an escape rock so that smaller reptiles don’t fall in and drown. The water bowl will need to be cleaned and refilled twice weekly, especially in warmer months.
For more ideas, you’ll find videos on youtube on how to build a lizard lounge in your garden. Once your haven is complete, keep pets away and remember that you no longer need to use insecticides, pesticides or snail pellets. These products can kill lizards directly, as well as eliminate their food sources. Whipper snippers and lawn mowers can also kill or maim larger lizards, so watch out while mowing.
Now sit back on your lounge and watch your scaled friends enjoying theirs!

If you wish to learn more of our reptiles you can book a guided tour with Wildside Sanctuary hosted by an expert guide to help you find and learn about Australian reptiles

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