Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Standoff

Recently I posted about a few of the other creatures around the pond and vicinity. As so often happens, within days I happened across some of them again and was able to get much more interesting and fun shots. I found the lizard above on one of the cages around the edge of the pond. Another lizard, however, had already staked his claim to the cage and rushed to its defense. Warily they approached one another, sizing up the opposition and displaying a series of threatening gestures.

Evidently some manner of sticking one's tongue out at an interloper is an effective deterrent. The unwelcome invader beat a hasty retreat.
Eventually His Highness, smug in his victory, climbed to the summit as though to survey his domain and keep an eye on the retreating competitor to make sure he had learned his lesson.

All was now well in this lizard's kingdom.

10 comments:

  1. Oh Baker...this is the sort of post I adore.......it is wonderful when one is able to capture something of this standard.......that last shot, I could look at that all day.....
    in fact I am going back to read it again.....

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  2. I enjoyed the photo story. As always your photos are wonderful. :)

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  3. Glad all is well in the lizard kingdom! I love the photo of the lizard sticking it's tongue out. It reminds me of our dog, Cookie waiting for you to throw something for her to fetch! LOL!

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  4. Cheryl - Thanks - It was interesting to watch it unfold. Often these lizards are around places where they can easily hide if you get too close so I don't see much of this activity. But in this case the cage is obviously 'open' and it is in the water (only a small portion is on the dry bank) so they remained visible for the whole encounter.

    Hey Tammy and thanks for dropping by.

    Kelly - Yep - Everything seemed well in the lizard kingdom when I left them, lol.

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  5. I too love this kind of post. You do find some of the best creatures to photograph and have a knack of putting a voice to them. I wish I could solve some of my problems by sticking out my tongue..LOL..

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  6. Great post Baker, nature is so interesting and you always manage to get a lens on it,,Bravo.

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  7. What a shame humans don't settle their disputes in a similar manner!

    Fabulous photos.

    And I loved the sign you put up for me! Hilarious. I saw those little bells in shops and wondered what they were for ... alerting bears to a good source of food obviously!

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  8. I just love this post...great story, too! Great capture of the lizards....I haven't seen any over here in all the years we've lived here!

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  9. Thanks Michelle - The last time I solved a problem by sticking out my tongue at someone was with my sister years ago - It was only temporary, though - She stopped bothering me but went 'straight to momma' - I learned then it wasn't a good way to solve a problem, lol

    Floyd - Thanks - I just happened to see these guys on the cage which I thought was unusual so I sat down to watch for a bit

    Liz - Glad you liked the sign - Figured you would considering the recent experiences you shared with us on your blog, lol

    spooky - They are pretty common here in the southeast but I'm not sure how far north and inland one can find them

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  10. This is such a fun post. I love the shot of the lizard poking his tongue out, with the sun glinting on his tongue! It's wonderful:)

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Thanks for stopping by to visit our little pond. We would love to see you again real soon.