I Spy... a lézard vert

Each month we feature an animal that (if you’re lucky) you can see running wild in the countryside of central France. This month, I Spy…… a lézard vert.

Western Green Lizards are a very common sight across France and Italy during the warmer months. Very recently the Western green lizard has been reclassified as a species in its own right and separate from the European green lizard that is found across the rest of Europe, although they are in most ways almost identical. Strictly speaking, the Western green lizard is the lézard à deux bandes in French and the European green lizard is the lézard vert, although lézard vert is commonly used for both species.

Green lizards grow to between 25 and 35 cm, with two thirds of that length being the tail, and take their name from their bright green colouring. Males have brilliant emerald green scales punctuated by small yellow and black spots and can often be distinguished by their blue throats which take on more colour and are more pronounced during the mating season. Females have a more varied colour, with younger lizards being almost brown. Both males and females have pale yellow underbellies.

Around mid-March, or with the first spring sunshine, the first males will appear from their winter hideout to bask in the spring sunshine in preparation for the mating season. Females will follow a few weeks later. Lézards verts are most active mid-morning, but can be seen throughout daylight hours. They will lay in the sun on warm rocks to raise their body temperature. Their preferred ambient temperature is around 32-33 degrees but can survive outside in temperatures as low as 15 degrees given sufficient sunshine. The lizards will usually return to their winter quarters around mid-October.

Green lizards are territorial and will vigorously defend their land from other male lizards, especially during the mating season which lasts from April to mid-June. The female will mate with several males before laying her clutch of about 15 eggs in a warm, damp place – piles of hay, sand of clay soil, rotting wood piles etc. The young will hatch at 3 to 5 cm long after approximately 10 weeks, although the exact length of incubation depends on the outside temperature. Infant cannibalism has been recorded and many of the young will be eaten by other adult green lizards.

Adults survive primarily on a diet of invertebrates such as beetles, locusts, caterpillars, woodlice, spiders, worms and snails, but will also feed on ripe berries (blackberries, red grapes or strawberries). They have even been known to catch small mice.

Green lizards will dash into a hiding place at the slightest suspicion of danger and if cornered their instinct will still be to try to flee. If handled, they may bite but more commonly settle at opening their mouths and showing off their teeth and tongue. Their bite is strong, but is not otherwise dangerous. The primary predators of green lizards are birds of prey and snakes. ■

Did You Know...?

As with all lizards (and geckos), the green lizard can actively lose its tail in dangerous situations when threatened. This is called “autotomy”. Each tail vertebra of the green lizard has a pre-prepared site of fracture. By a strong and sudden contraction of the circular tail musculature it can separate itself from a bigger or a smaller portion of the tail as required. The detached tail part will then move vigurously for up to twenty minutes, catching the attention of the attacker and allowing the now tailless lizard to get away. After a while the lizard grows a new tail; however this substitute is not supported by another vertebral column but by a cartilaginous and unbreakable rod.