Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Leapin' Lizards!

Yesterday, we decided to head outside to do some science. We keep a little science kit on the porch. Super J came up with the idea to look for and study bugs. Since it does still get quite cold, I wasn't that hopeful.

But we scored and found a handful of snails! It was pretty cool! I got up to go locate a bug box for our finds and suddenly! movement! I saw a green anole lizard dart into the bushes. He neglected to pull in his tail, though. These suckers are fast, so I went into stealth mode! We are rarely able to catch them. I crept up ever so slowly and extended one finger. I very gently applied pressure to the tail before he was able to scramble away. I had him!!! I yelled for the kids and they came running over. We only could see his tail, so Super J brought a net. I very carefully pulled him out of the bushes and grabbed hold of him and got him in the net. His feet digging in the whole way. The strength in that little lizard was awesome.

We kept him in a bug box for about 45 minutes or so just observing him. We got to locate his ears, see his ribs while he was breathing and see the red part of his neck. We had very lengthy discussions about little Greenie, as he was affectionately named.

After all of this, it was time to return Greenie to his bushes. I opened up the hatch on the bug house, but he didn't seem to know how to get out. So, the boys took turns sticking their hands in and petting him very gently. I told Super J to hold out his hands and I would drop Greenie onto them. I warned him that it would be a quick event, as I was sure Greenie would dart back to safety with super speed.

I was wrong. This lizard let the boys hold him and he hung out with us of his own free will for about ten minutes more. And even when he did jump away, he did it slowly and stayed where we could seen him for quite awhile.

I love the hands on life that we get as homeschoolers!

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