Could this be evidence of global warming?

[gmerkt]

I found this little visitor on my front porch a couple of days ago. I've lived here in the same place west of the Cascades for 35 years, never previously seen a lizard on the property. Newts, yes. Lizards, no.




I looked at pictures of lizards online, this appears to be a Northwestern Alligator Lizard. He seems to have regenerated a new tail at some time in the past. He allowed me to get quite close and didn't move a muscle. He blended right in with the dark brown stair tread.

Yes, it has been quite dry on my property the past few years. I've been watering a lot more during dry weather. Is the presence of a lizard evidence of desertification?? When I lived in a desert, lizards were commonly seen. Now I can say I've seen one here.

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[Andy54Hawken]

Hitchhiker...?
Maybe an escapee from someone's home aquarium...?

In any event...yep...not what one expects to find out this way.
Andy

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I found this little visitor on my front porch a couple of days ago. I've lived here in the same place west of the Cascades for 35 years, never previously seen a lizard on the property. Newts, yes. Lizards, no.

View attachment 1255738


I looked at pictures of lizards online, this appears to be a Northwestern Alligator Lizard. He seems to have regenerated a new tail at some time in the past. He allowed me to get quite close and didn't move a muscle. He blended right in with the dark brown stair tread.

Yes, it has been quite dry on my property the past few years. I've been watering a lot more during dry weather. Is the presence of a lizard evidence of desertification?? When I lived in a desert, lizards were commonly seen. Now I can say I've seen one here.

Quick online check shows you nailed the right species. Looks like it's a native to the area.

 

[Provincial]

These are common here in Western Oregon. There are other lizards here, as well. I don't think they are particularly associated with dryness, since they live in conifer forests.

They hold still to hide, so you have to be very alert to spot them.

 

[Xaevian]

As said earlier, native species. Seen plenty of them in South Puget Sound area where I spent most of my life.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

I found this little visitor on my front porch a couple of days ago. I've lived here in the same place west of the Cascades for 35 years, never previously seen a lizard on the property. Newts, yes. Lizards, no.

View attachment 1255738


I looked at pictures of lizards online, this appears to be a Northwestern Alligator Lizard. He seems to have regenerated a new tail at some time in the past. He allowed me to get quite close and didn't move a muscle. He blended right in with the dark brown stair tread.

Yes, it has been quite dry on my property the past few years. I've been watering a lot more during dry weather. Is the presence of a lizard evidence of desertification?? When I lived in a desert, lizards were commonly seen. Now I can say I've seen one here.

Live in this region? If so, not evidence of global warming as that is part of the expected range. I used to see them occasionally here in Western Oregon. Never in my yard, but 2 houses down and across the street there were dozens. Given their range I doubt it is desertification.

 

[gmerkt]

Relax, it's a semi-joke. It's true I've never seen any lizards here in all those years. But, things are changing all the time, not exclusively due to global warming / climate change.

Eastern Cottontail rabbits, those are fairly new to my neighborhood too. Within the past three years. Before that I hadn't seen any wild rabbit on my property. Yet they've been in the general area for years. Out east in the hills, I've seen hundreds of the little brown bunnies certain times of the year.

This year, apparently we have shrews. A couple of weeks ago, the door was open and my two cats made off. Within five minutes, one was back with a dead shrew deposited on the floor. Last week, I caught a shrew in one of the snap traps I keep set in my storage building. Four nights ago, one of my cats was visiting with me in the garage. I looked over and he was chasing something. He stopped to play with it and it ran away into some stuff stored in boxes. As it escaped, I saw it was another shrew. That night, I put the other cat (better killer) shut in the garage; the next morning, no evidence. I kept snap traps in place for a couple of days, just in case. Yesterday, the shrew was caught in a trap.

Land development can cause changes in wildlife visitors, too. There is a large tract of land up the road from where I live that was logged a few years ago, making way for some fancy homes. Resulting in habitat loss. For a while there, we had more than the usual number of coyote sightings. There were also some displaced raccoons and I've tried to do my share in finding solutions to them. But I don't think my lizard was displaced from development.

As to global warming, it's hard to imagine that a couple of centuries of pumping burning hydrocarbons into the air hasn't had some effect. When I get in a traffic jam on the interstate, I reflect on this. All those hundreds of cars (just in the one place that I can see), engines running.

 

[nwwoodsman]

These are pretty common on the west side. I don't think it's a sign of warming, but there is something going on with the critters. Never before have rodents been a problem but this year I've talked with 4 different people in our neighborhood who are battleing rats. Guy at the local hardware store said lots of people are dealing with them. Same thing with moles. We also have about a dozen different deer frequenting our road when in years past there have been just a couple coming and going. Swallowtail butteflies and the honey bees have seemed to return when we haven't seen hardly any over the past few years. The dandelions are winning the battle against the lawn this year, along with a few other "weeds that I've never seen, and I don't think I've ever seen so many wild irises, sweet pea and daisies before while I'm out tromping in the woods. I am guessing maybe it has to do with all the rain we had earlier this year. Whatever it is, things seem to be more alive and flourishing this year.

 

[Provincial]

Anyone remember when the frogs in Western Oregon were "disappearing" 15-20 years ago? Our habitat around my tree farm is great habitat, but the nights went silent. No frogs croaking. Then, ten years later, the night was back to the normal croaking.

ODFW says "Many of Oregon's 12 native species of frogs and toads are listed as Oregon Conservation Strategy Species of concern." Some of this is because of habitat loss, mostly from development that consumes habitat. Beyond that, there are natural cycles in populations of living things. Nothing is static.

The Summer this year was, and still is, wetter than normal. That has encouraged growth of weeds as well as grass. The amount of really hot weather this year was slightly longer than normal, but overall, not enough to raise the average temperature. It has been good for growing things, but the wet weather disrupted pollenization, so fruit trees are not bearing well.