Funny how a subject will get discussed on a forum and disappear only to show up again a couple of years later, sometimes with entirely new info. When this was discussed previously, we saw mostly info on Wolf Spiders and I remember pictures of some huge swimming spiders from the Carolinas, three to four inches across. I had to work off a phobia about spiders when my children had Anoles lizards as pets and now can view spiders with interest rather than panic most of the time. I am pretty sure I have seen spiders like these attempting to hide in mulch or other wood debris and I have seen spiders of different families striding across still water without breaking the surface tension. I don't know if they could be called swimming spiders but they checked out the water with their front legs and took off like they were walking on a solid surface. I wouldn't worry about them. They are beneficial as is the orb spiders in my flower and veggie gardens. Sandy

bgrose, I am deleting the pics, so they should be gone in a few days. I thought if I showed you my cute lizard you would stop being afraid of them, but I can see my idea did not help at all. I have to say that I am glad that I have lizards, and we let the garden spider stay most of one summer so our ten year old could watch a spider spin its web, catch bugs, and then spin a cocoon and lay its eggs in the fall. We watched the baby spiders leave the next spring. I don't want her to be afraid of spiders and lizards or snakes, either, for that matter. I want her to know the dangers of some snakes and to appreciate the other critters for the jobs they play in the garden and in the soil. I am sorry you have such a deep fear of these animals and hope that you have success in removing your lizard, if that will help you. Sincerely, Gean

I'm not really familiar with many of the TX lizards, but you're right; this does NOT look like a native US species. Although the pic is small, from what I can see this almost looks like a Frilled Dragon, a native of New Guinea and Australia. Those are the one what spread out the big neck frill if they feel cornered or threatened, though simply moving away is their first line of defense. The head definately has that shape like a member of the Agamid family, and a foot and a half would be too big for a Fence Lizard, which is also in that family. Frilled Dragons are commonly sold as pets, though they are quite expensive, so if that's what it is, it must have escaped from someone-someone who is VERY upset! Check with the local papers' "Lost and Found" section and see if anyone has lost such a pet in your area, and you should certainly try to catch it without hurting it. Sharon McKenzie

I just posted and was advised that maybe you, Robert, could help me with how to get a lizard out from under my stove ( see post). I can help you with the pics if you do what I do: Get a free Picasa account from Google.com. Once you have downloaded and installed the software, to to web gallery. Upload pics of your choice into the web gallery and name it whatever you want. Click on the "view online" button, and copy the URL. Paste it into the field in your forum post called "Optional link URL" and then name it whatever you want. It a lot easier than it sounds. -Susan