You're not doing anything wrong. There's nothing wrong about having lizards in your garden.

Please refer to this same topic posted not too long ago!!!

Everyone tried to assure you that lizards are harmless and good for the garden and just ignore them if you see them (we remember that you aren't fond of them). I can't imagine that there is anything else to add :)

Lynn (who doesn't like grasshoppers but will tolerate spiders!)

I want them gone and never come back, thanks!

Your garden is healthy.This is great! You are seriously annoying me. Why don't you plant fake flowers so no bugs or lizards show up?

bgrose, I am afraid you are going to have to accept that most people find a healthy garden ecology to be a GOOD thing.

That would include beneficial critters.

Give it a rest.

Jeri in California
Who is happy to have many, many lizards and birds in her garden.

I don`t like lizards, either! Last summer we put pavers around the pool and lizards suddenly appeared.It was all the sand brought in for the pavers. They all ran from me much faster than I could run from them. They especially liked my little pond and got along quite well with the frogs. They were never a problem. I have not seen any this year. I feel they died during our cold winter in Louisville, KY.I actually will miss them. So, hang in there and keep an eye out. They really don`t want to mess with you......Lesley

What has the lizards actually done to you? They are totally harmless and keep pests under control. They will NOT attack you or anyone else.

Unless they are Komodo Dragon...

I think you should consider yourself very fortunate to have some lizards in your garden. They are a GOOD thing!!! They eat mosquitoes and other undesirable critters. You should be doing everything in your power to protect them - not hurt them.

I looked up lizards in Bulgaria. The lizards I saw looked like the kind in my yard but more colorful. They will never ever bother you they are shy. The only time you will see them is when they are sunning.
Look the other way or move to a different area of your yard.
Here is an idea, I will trade you all of my Brown and Black Widows! I would be a good trade too, I have many many more than two!

Oh my gosh..you mean there are bugs and animals outside? What will we do?

when the lizards start disappearing-probably snakes-when the snakes disappear,look for mongeese[IK]-nasty little buggers.

Take Zyperiris's comments to heart, Bgrose. Paving, astroturf and artificial plantings may be your horrorticultural cup of tea. ;-)

I've been telling my husband that, the more wildlife you have in your yard, the better. We have birds who love our yard, not just for the seed, but the many places they can build nests (yes even in the roses). The chimpmunks are a pain, but they keep my cat entertained. And now we have rabbits! They aren't eating my roses, thankfully, but we see them at night. I have seen lizards, when it gets hot and sunny. They eat bugs so they are a-ok in my book.

Bu, we have chipmunks here too. I wish I could put food out for them..but last year we had rats! We live by a green belt..The back of the property backs up to the the green belt. We had to get baffles on the bird feeders to keep the rats out and we moved them way to the back of the property. We have not seen any rats yet this year. There are raccoons, squirrels, moles. We have some fancy pidgeon eating out of our feeders. Along with the chipmunks. Lots of spiders. I love enjoying the wildlife out there. Our family room looks out on the back yard..so we can watch all evening.

I do not know whether we are talking about the same lizards. I won't mind cute lizards - those in my garden look very ugly and I do not think smart. And there are lovelier and healthier gardens around, they should definitely move.

Egads.............

Thinking it over, I'm fairly sure we're being had.

Jeri

Joke's over.

Asking the lizards to leave is about the same as asking the birds to leave....be thankfull you have them. Chances are they were there before you were! Having them there means you are doing everything right!!!!

I want them to disappear.
i want zyperiris to help that because i trust his advice.
thanks

BG, I am a she. Enough with the lizards.

hmmm, jerijen, I've had my suspicions too .....

I am very certain that this is not a serious complaint ...

Spontaneous sex changes on the rose forum.....well, I got a chortle out of that anyway!

Texas, I never claimed to be a male. Just a FYI. No sex change here.

If you had Komodo dragons in your yard wouldn't you want them to move to Albania or even SCA?

You sure it wasn't a skink?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lizards 'n things of Texas

Zyperiris.....I wasn't chortling because you had made a sex change but that someone else had given you one! :o

That particular line of responses in this posting was humorous to me (when I was reading it early in the morning) because it came out of the blue in the middle of the discussion about the validity of the posting - that's all.

Happy Gardening - lizards and all!

Lynn (who is also a She!)

Only lizards I ever seen up in zone 3a are lounge lizards ... loud, greasy, slinky slimy fellows attracted to loud noise, smoke and ethanol, as well as they sing lousy off key mate attracting songs and their skin looks like crushed purple and green velvet.

Riku, maybe those are the lizards lurking about in BG's garden. LOL

Texas, my middle name is Lynn. Glad you didn't think I was a guy

While y'all are on the subject of critters, can you tell me if a hypnotist could cure my fear of spiders?
I love being in the yard and I reckon it keeps my dog pretty exercised when he comes running to my aid every 10 minutes to see what the blood -curling scream was all about.

I have been bitten by a brown recluse years ago and I guess that must have done me in. I cant even look at one on the tv or computer.

SO, hypnotist? Or just keep the dog exercised?

Riku! I think I want to meet your Lounge Lizards! Jeri

DinaJean, I would go for the hypnotist. I bet your neighbors will pay for it! lol
I have so many Brown Widows last night I dreamt about hunting them. Just me and my gas torch. My Dad said I should get a flame thrower. I bet they have mini ones. Does anyone know where I could get one?
Allison

Is a brown widow same as a black widow? I think the brown ones are males..but I am not sure. One thing I like about Seattle is that there really aren't black widows. When I lived in California you had to be so careful. At night I used to take my walk along this block wall..the block wall had weep holes at the bottom..for drainage I guess. I used to walk along that wall and squash them as I went along. I try to like all creatures..but my christian friend told me once that the devil made black widows. LMAO

Riku,

Are the mate attracting songs the same everywhere, or are they regional? Here they sound like "haaaaay baaaay beeeeee!"

Zyperiris, at first I thought what I was finding was a juvenile Black Widows. Haha got em' young! They were everywhere! Then there was an article in the paper about Brown Widows........ah great. So I looked it up and found this:
{{gwi:267319}}
{{gwi:267321}} I wondered why the egg sacs were different. The other delightful thing is they also hide up high...like in an empty bird feeder (my dear brother brought me a kitten to "save" now full grown he won't stay in the house, can't feed the birds seed anymore, yeesh) you hit the spiders "tag line" and *whoop* down in my face!! I found them even in the bells a wind chime 9' up! Under every pot, rime of the black plastic pots, it's just ridiculous! A few documents claim the venom is less potent. I do NOT care to test that theory...so in overhauling the 1/4 acre the torch is always at arms reach. Gross huh? I really don't like killing them. But I have a kid and various animals. On goes the battle.

Bg,
Have you considered eating them. There are some great recipes out there. Try to find "Lizard Lover's Cookbook". Skink on a Stick is my favorite.

Allison, I have never seen those before! Because widows can make you very sick..I would kill them too. I had a friend who was leaving for vacation. She went to visit the neighbors for a sec. The neighbor pulled down a lawn chair off a hanging peg and she sat down. She remembered a pinch on her thigh. They left on vacation in their motor home and she was very sick. Vomiting, shakes..sweating.

Zyperiris, the odds were/are so bad with that many around. They are not aggressive which is a plus.
I have a neighbor who is afraid of everything. Like if you have a tree she thinks it is going to fall on the house so she cuts it down! Has traps all over for rats, as if the neighborhood is infested, not. I don't thik she has a bug in her yard! When I moved into my house, ten years ago, she told me horror stories of Eucalyptus trees, branches breaking when kids are swinging, roots so shallow they fall over with no warning. My one giant tree is a Eucalyptus! ( I have always figured if something like that ever happens I have insurance! Not the kid falling from the swing, the tree falling down.haha)
Can you imagine her hearing me almost daily out there "hah, I knew it(!), egg sacs", torch lighting, "now where are YOU hiding, I will find you...ahah! told you! I knew you were around here". Torch lights again..LOL I can't believe she hasn't said anything!
I hope I am knocking down the population a bit for goodness sake! You know what they are like? Daddy long legs, everywhere! Except outside! Whew.

Maryland doesn't have black widows - in any case since I have a degree in biology I am delighted with it all - spiders, ants, and all that. Pitiful that so much habitat has been destroyed animals are fighting for space, including homes - I am so happy when I see lizards, frogs, toads in my garden as so many of their populations are threatened - it's another reason I don't use systemics like Bayer.

For spiders they are fascinating, but my father did come back from Kansas with a severe bite from a brown recluse - is that your "brown widow"? Very bad, glad he was not one of the people where a bad reaction spreads, but it was bad enough anyway. I will spare this forum the gory details of bite reactions, but that is one spider I am wary of.

A brown recluse spider is not the same as a brown widow. I believe recluse spiders are small.

I don't mind garden spiders. Or bees..or even wasps now.

I'm in the same boat here but I have made an effort to save bees, hummingbirds and Monarchs, so I have a native plant garden with birdbaths. I love watching all the activity going on with nature. My only complaint is that I heard they eat Praying Mantis and I love them but I could never bring myself to kill lizards. However, grasshoppers are another thing.....

If someone complains about lizards in their garden, tell them they probably have cockroaches. That will shut them up! 😁

Moses

Perhaps they'd prefer snakes. I welcome all including lizards, toads, snakes, properly vetted quail families if they behave, no deer or coyotes, though. Diane

Hi there!

I'm going, I'm going. I hate hot patios.

Looks like 15 years ago we had some lizard madness! lol

I have kestrels out back on a regular basis, floating and hovering over the gully and hawks almost daily in the back yard in trees and on the neighbors 9 foot wall. Diane

Here's our lizard.

Am I a lizard?

Lizards at Diane's bird feeders.

I'm a woodpeckin lizard.

Lots of wildlife in our backyard hills.

I welcome lizards into my gardens because I am told that it keeps the scorpion level down. I have lots of lizards! Now the rattlesnakes snakes I don’t like. Any snake freaks me out, but I can handle the gopher snakes as soon as I know they’re NOT rattlesnakes. I got rid of a rattlesnake in my cucumber patch just a few weeks ago. It unnerved me pretty badly and I’m pretty careful moving around in all the foliage.

Judi, I don't blame you about being careful. Rattlesnakes are something else. I think that was a gopher snake I posted above. Jemma guided it out to a flower bed with a stick, while I took the pics. It was a nice peaceful snake and didn't bother me at all. It was hot, and I think he wanted to just take a nap without the crazy humans bothering him.

Sultry, I love the goatie pies. How did the little one get the vine necklace?

We had goats several years back to eat the weeds down. Diane

judijune, be careful with all those snakes! We get some venomous snakes too. My scariest situation was maybe 5 yrs sgo at my old farm when our Lab had cornered a huge Timber Rattlesnake out by the chicken coop. It was all coiled up rattlling its tail -holding its black rattler up high. It had a different sound than other snakes and from a distance without contacts/glasses on, I thought it was a black hornets nest lol! The dog was barking its foolish head off in that snakes face! Im shocked it didnt bite her..or me! I was at a loss of what to do because the dog would not back off, so finally I walked around the coop and up behind her and grabbed her tail pulling her backwards, away from the snake, until i could get hold of her collar and back up towards the house. That snake took off into the woods quick. I later learned that although massive and one of the most venomous rattelesnakes, The Timber rattler is not aggressive and will sometimes even play dead rather than strike. Good thing lol. I dread seeing another one.

Diane, I Love those goat photos and their guardian dog! Its a smart thing getting the goats out there to keep the wildfire risk down.

The silly photo: We had just got a new overgrown pasture section ready for the goats, a few days ago. We let them out, into it for the first time and they were all going nuts running around tasting everything. Some goats were rubbing their heads on the tall weeds like a scratching post lol. Somehow, this little guy got a big weed stuck on his head. Then he went up to the girls and they would try to eat the weed, then would run and they would all chase him trying to eat the weed. He tried it with the older female goats and they were not impressed and would butt him. They kept us laughing with their goofy antics!