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phytolacca

Egg in the compost

phytolacca
13 years ago

Hi y'all, this is my first post here, but I've read through enough old posts to truly understand the heartbreak of Soggy Bready Planaria (SBP). I thought for my first post I'd share this tiny egg I found while turning my compost pile:

{{gwi:299831}}

I knew it was a lizard or snake egg, but didn't know which one, so I scooped up some compost, put it in a container, buried the egg in it, and put it on my back porch:

{{gwi:299832}}

After about 10-14 days, my baby green anole had hatched. Mystery solved!

{{gwi:299833}}

He/she is now back in the yard eating up my bugs. Compost is the gift that keeps on giving!

Comments (13)

  • Lloyd
    13 years ago

    That is SO cool!!

    Lloyd

  • phytolacca
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks, Lloyd! I bet you were expecting something different by the title.

  • borderbarb
    13 years ago

    Thanks for the pics ... I looked up online and found interesting info. I note the picture is enlarged .. the egg compares to what [coin, bean, etc] to get an idea.

    Though I don't have those kinds of lizards ...my yard is full of brown lizards ... and see many baby lizards ... at lease will now know what the egg looks like.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Anole

  • Lloyd
    13 years ago

    What I really want to know is how the heck did you find/see that itty bitty egg in the 'post??!!

    Not much surprises me on this forum anymore although I gotta admit the placenta raised the old eyebrows.

    Lloyd

  • CaptTurbo
    13 years ago

    The eggs from the lizards are surprisingly large. Something like the size of the fingernail on the pinky of a man or slightly larger.

    As far as the color goes, they change their color to match their surroundings. I love the little buggers. They are very busy and work hard for us!

  • phytolacca
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    "What I really want to know is how the heck did you find/see that itty bitty egg in the 'post??!!"

    Well for one thing Lloyd, I'm a lazy composter. Usually by the time I get around to turning a pile, the critters have had weeks to get comfortable in there. So I'm used to seeing interesting things when I turn it and I look out for them. I'll post a pic later of the clutch of snake eggs I found several years ago. They had all hatched by the time I found them. That might creep out some folks but I love 'em.

    Captturbo, yes they are surprisingly large for such a small lizard. When I found it I figured it would be a snake because it just seemed too large for a lizard. It makes sense though that I only found one, while snakes lay several-to-many in a clutch. I've lived around green anoles (or "American chameleons") all my life, and never seen an egg of theirs.

    I've been thinking recently of ways to increase the number of lizards in my garden. I think I may start by placing cinder blocks or rocks out there for them to sun themselves on and hide in, around, and under.

  • claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
    13 years ago

    That is a very cute little lizard - I don't see lizards here in SE MA (that doesn't mean they're not here, just that I don't see them). That egg looks a little bigger than a pokeberry fruit - a fine name you picked, too.

    Claire

  • annpat
    13 years ago

    A.) I'm pleased to know that you understand the heartbreak and B!) I can't believe you hatched your own reptile!!
    I make soil, but you! you make soil and little repulsive animals. I am in awe!

  • phytolacca
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    "I note the picture is enlarged .. the egg compares to what [coin, bean, etc] to get an idea."
    barb, it was about 1 cm long, maybe about the size of a cherry pit.

    "That egg looks a little bigger than a pokeberry fruit - a fine name you picked, too"
    Thanks, Claire!

    "I make soil, but you! you make soil and little repulsive animals. I am in awe!"

    :-D

  • gjcore
    13 years ago

    Very cool. I wish I had lizards in my garden.

  • toxcrusadr
    13 years ago

    I saw the biggest freakin' cockroach EVER yesterday. Must have been 2" long. Much rather have lizards.

    Lloyd - you can see tiny things like this if you don't turn your compost with a backhoe. Just sayin'.

  • phytolacca
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    "Lloyd - you can see tiny things like this if you don't turn your compost with a backhoe. Just sayin'."

    Yeah, those HUGE-NORMOUS piles are a boon to all mankind, but maybe he ought to have his own personal pile so he doesn't lose touch of the small-potatoes composting experience. Just stop and smell the compost, Lloyd! :)

  • Lloyd
    13 years ago

    Holllddd on thar Bubalooey, I ain't the one with the Komatsu hoe!

    I have a little tumbler, an EarthMachine and a medium wire bin so it's not like I don't ever see the compost. Sometimes when I'm bored I stand at the curing bin and chop up the small twigs with a pair of pruners, it's so relaxing it's therapeutic. (that and a beer)

    Six hundred bags of clippings dumped this morning, another 500 to go and I'm caught up from last week. Believe me I smell the compost! DW says I smell like crap but that's another story.

    ;-)

    Lloyd