Deepest sympathy to anyone who has to deal with digging and burrowing varmints. When I lived in Bellflower, the neighborhood was infested with gophers. I did a little research and found that the recommended method of getting rid of them pretty labor intensive and required buying special equipment I didn't want to pay for. I could really understand Bill Murray's motivation in "Caddyshack." I've put a lot of rocks into a couple of tiny spaces I'm using as gardens here in Dana Point. Happy to report I've found two Pacific salamanders camped out under paving stones. For some reason, they seem to love flat manmade rocks with a little moisture beneath or between them. It's been so long since I've seen any live amphibians in a natural setting. Even the toads in Texas seemed to have disappeared during the amphibian die-off a few years ago. These salamanders are really neat little critters, easy to mistake for earthworms.

So this is interesting. I checked on the burrow later and it was completely covered over. Even the soil that was kicked onto the pavers was moved back, and the area scrubbed clean like nothing ever happened. I asked my wife why she covered it up and she had no idea what I was talking about. I did a little research and it turns out the female does just that. Digs a burrow in a sunny location, lays 8-30ish eggs, covers the burrow and never returns. The eggs hatch in 40-80ish days. I would have guessed they were ovoviviparous so it's pretty cool I think. Hopefully there are eggs since it was covered back up. Typical male, gotta touch stuff we shouldn't. It chose a spot that's smack dab in the middle of a feral cat highway so I'm glad to see it made it that far.

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 think it's possible to have a good lawn and property without necessarily having "everything" under the sun there that is indigenous to the area. As a more extreme example, I think grass snakes are fine but I don't want to find some other larger, possibly poisonous, snake in tall grass around my property. Or let's say squirrels might get a pass, but I don't want to see too many possums hanging around. Small black ants are all around, but I'll try not to have fire ants or carpenter ants if I can help it. Another example is that even deer and rabbits are cute and fun, awesome to see walking through the yard, until they affect some landscaping plants or gardening plants. At this point, I even believe that the mulch around the house harbors some of the same flying insects that I'm annoyed with on a hot, humid day. Depending on your housing community area, you may be compelled to keep it in check, also. I think it's OK to care for the lawn, and still have the kids learn to love and appreciate nature without man's strong interference. An example would be to create a lizard-safe or toad-safe environment in the backyard to help control bugs and insects there.