Lesson 1: How to noose a lizard

A basking lizard is diligent, paranoid, superfast, always near an escape route, and consequently very difficult to catch with bare hands. Most small species have been menu items of larger animals for eons, and they have tuned their fleeing behaviors optimally. Check out the substantial body of literature on lizard flight initiation distance.

But do not despair. This ‘b’log is about solving problems! There’s a very easy way to catch most lizards called a lizard noose—essentially a stick with a looped string on the end. Here’s the recipe:

Materials:
A 2 m or longer stick (or a fishing pole, TV antenna, Phragmites stem, use imagination)
Some dental floss (best with the waxy kind)
A lizard (spiny lizards [genus Sceloporus] are especially catch-able)

Noose Construction:
1) Tie a small loop at the end of a ~10 cm length of floss and string the other end through the loop to make a noose. The wax-covered dental floss works best, because it’s tacky and keeps the noose open.
2) Attach this to the end of your stick.

(Alternative method:  I’ve heard of folks simply tying a slip knot on the end of a length of grass and using this. It’s worth a try.)

Technique:
1) Locate a lizard.
2) Get within your stick-length of the lizard. This is usually pretty easy.
3) Gently slip the open noose around the lizard’s neck and slowly pull up on the stick to tighten the loop. It might take few tries if the lizard gets suspicious.
4) Retrieve your captured lizard.

Details:
This works amazingly well. The lizard rarely seems to fear the presence of the stick or floss, even when the noose begins to tighten. Sometimes they even bite at it. It’s also worth noting that a lizard’s tough, scaly dermis protects it from choking or other injury. Species with defined necks are the best candidates for this method. Skinks are sans neck and sometimes too smoothly scaled for easy noosing. Very small anoles may also be difficult, because they have too little mass to pull the noose closed. Alligator lizards are easy to catch, but beware their jaws.

I’m hoping to insert some illustrations soon, but I eager to get the first post published.

Introductory Post

My intent here is to impart some of my favorite participatory nature activities in the form of an entertaining how-to blog. I love to learn new ways to actively view, uncover, catch, and otherwise enjoy flora and fauna, and I want to motivate folks to enjoy the outdoors and to inspire myself to learn more of these fun skills. This attitude toward outdoor pursuits is summarized eloquently by the talented nature writer and academic, Bernd Heinrich, in a great book called Racing the Antelope:

[after deconstructing a red-breasted nuthatch nest as a nature-loving teenager Bernd explains] 

“I hadn’t yet encountered the mind-set of ‘Don’t swat it, don’t catch it, don’t eat it, don’t touch it’ that tends to make nature into a frozen museum exhibit. Nature becomes intensely exciting and real through active participation, beyond just looking at it.”

(He also recounts killing and eating the occasional porcupine as a kid. Cool guy.)

Neither I nor, I assume, Dr. Heinrich would condone the wanton destruction of active bird nests, but I hope readers get my point. Forest and field are much more interesting and entertaining if you jump the trail or boardwalk and take part in some active bothering of nature. I aim to share the great joy I experience from some clever skills, tips, and tricks to enhance the nature viewing experience. Most of my posts will be geared toward the northwoods of eastern North America, but we’ll see where it goes.

Finally I feel obliged to disclaim that one should always check local, state, and federal regulations and her or his moral compass before bothering or molesting any wildlives.

I hope to get the first real post up soon.