Hiking Nature

By Stephen Frasier; Re: the Nashville Hiking Meetup Group’s Fiery Gizzard hike; Date: Saturday, June 8, 2008; Photos: Stephen Frasier, using Olympus Stylus 790 SW

This adult Northern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus) was found by the author while hiking the incredible, treacherous, beautiful Fiery Gizzard trail just outside Monteagle, Tennessee with the Nashville Hiking Meetup group. This type of fence lizard is basically the primary (most common) spiny lizard we have here in Tennessee.

By the way, this is a break-out post, a sub blog entry, a conjoined sibling of the larger Fiery Gizzard Hike post which describes, in far too much detail, certain events occurring on Saturday, June 7, 2008.

This Northern Fence Lizard — probably between six and seven inches long — scurried by my Camelbak over to the edge of the rock cliff and peered back at me for a moment before moving to the trunk of an evergreen to sun itself. Usually these lizards make themselves scarce; they tend to magically occupy the opposite side of the tree trunk from you, where they cannot be seen – just like a squirrel. But this adult fence lizard — another enlightened reptile, perhaps — demonstrated a clear desire to be photographed, allowing me to continue my amazing reptile photography streak (which began the other day with a 6+ foot-long gray rat snake at Radnor Lake) uninterrupted!

Once the fence lizard settled into its sweet spot on the trunk of this cliff-dwelling evergreen, it was content not to move another inch – even when I stealthily approached to within two or three feet of the cold-blooded creature. I remembered to take plenty of pictures to increase the odds of having at least one blogworthy photo in the bunch.

I declined to capture this spiny lizard by hand, not because of the spines (which are no big deal to the human hand); rather, I remembered what a firm bite this critter can deliver on queue. It’s like a very firm pinch, with a level of pain commensurate with the thickness of or the amount of skin the lizard grabs with its strong little jaw.

These fence lizards are extremely common, much like the Southeastern Five-Lined Skink; so seeing one - or even getting a close-up of the lizard — is certainly no big deal. This is one of the (hopefully few) ways a wise one might be able to determine my novicehood in the realm of reptile photography. Therefore, in future editions of HikingNature.com, you’re not likely to see such bragging rights being claimed over a photographed adult Northern Fence Lizard or Eastern Fence Lizard (same thing).