Western Green Lizard
Identification: Robust but slender lizard with a short and deep head. Body length up to 13 cm, usually smaller. Original tail 1.7 to 2.5 times the body length. (A regenerated tail is shorter and less colourful than the original one). The legs are relatively long. Scales on back are small, elongated and keeled. Back colour usually grass or yellowish green, but in some females it can be brown. Males with fine black stippling above and a darker, light-spotted head. Females uniform or with small dark blotches, frequently with 2 or 4 narrow light stripes over the flanks. There is never a stripe over the back. Belly in both sexes uniformly yellowish. In spring, males have a bright blue throat. Older females also can have a bluish throat. Males are bigger and have a much larger and deeper head, a relatively shorter body and a longer tail. Newly hatched animals are brown with yellowish green on the chin and sides of the head. Uniform or with a few light spots on the flanks, or else with 2 or 4 narrow light stripes.
Range: Occurs in the north of Spain, France, Italy, west Slovenia, west and south Switzerland and some isolated localities in the south-west of Germany. Distribution in the British Isles: Occurs on Jersey, has been introduced to Guernsey. Has been introduced into England. Although the adult animals appear to have no difficulty in surviving in the English climate, historically the summers have not been warm enough to allow egg incubation over sufficient years to allow colonies to become truly established. With global warming, this situation is changing and there is at least one population at Bournemouth (Dorset), which has now been established for a number of years and is growing.
Habitat: This lizard favours sheltered areas with dense bushy vegetation and good exposure to the sun. Open woods, hedgerows, wood edges, bramble thickets, overgrown embankments, etc. are all suitable. In mid-Europe, it occurs in relatively dry areas on south-facing slopes; in the south of its range, it also occurs in more damp situations or highland areas. In the north of Spain and Abruzzi in Italy, it is found up to altitudes of 2200 metres.
Habits: Active from March to October and breeds from April to June. In the beginning of June, 5-20 eggs are laid in moist, sun-exposed soil. From August onwards, the young hatch. Newly hatched juveniles have a total length of 7-9 cm. They mature after 2-3 years. Green Lizards often bask in bushes up to several metres high. Rather shy, when approached they flee into bushes, rodent burrows, crevices etc. They mainly feed on invertebrates like insects, spiders, snails and earthworms. Sometimes they also eat nestlings of small birds or fruit. Hibernate in holes in walls or under ground, often in abandoned burrows from small mammals.
How to find: Most active in breeding season (April to June). Best chance to observe them is early in the morning, when they are warming themselves up in the sun.