He won't hurt anything. If you happen to stab him while turning, he'll turn into compost, too.

Lizards like compost piles because of the insects. They are harmless and do not affect the compost at all.

Leave him/her alone.

Than you JonCraig and Lazygardens. In regards to stabbing him by mistake, I don't think I could, I am a bit uneasy of lizards, mice etc, it's like not afraid really just that weird feeling around them, I'd scare him away before I attempt to turn the pile.

This post brought a smile. His presence is a very good sign there are tons of insects turning your dirt.

He'll do a good job of keeping them from getting too large in numbers. They eat scorpions and centipedes like they are candy.

I'll be kind and not advise you what his predators are. :D

A compost pile is a living thing. Embrace nature and enjoy its complex beauty. Weirdness will gradually become awe and wonder at intricately formed creatures who go about their business with no help from humans.

Composting is good for much more than building soil.

dadgum!!!! Tox I noninate you as poet laureate for GW. There is more about organic gardening in those few words than I have ever witnessed while reading this forum.

Aww, shucks. Don't tell anybody, it'll ruin my tough-guy street cred.

I just read that our bluebelly lizards somehow make ticks no longer carry the lyme disease! LOL
Sorry, I don't have the newspaper article handy!
I'm in Sonoma Co and I think the article was for Lake or Mendocino Co, Interesting! I'll post if I can find it in the Press Democrat.
Nancy

nancy, if you find that articale and it says they make the ticks stop with their evil deed , I want some of the little bluebelly buggers. We have a swarm of skeeters in Tx that need straightening out regarding West Nile.

These links talk about the observation that lizards can affect the survival of Lyme Disease organisms in ticks that attach to them.

Lizards Slow Lyme Disease in West

Lizards Slow Lyme Disease in West / Ticks bite them -- and leave with purified blood

We could use some of those lizards here in the northeast, prime country for Lyme Disease.

Our mosquitoes also carry Eastern Equine Encephalitis as well as West Nile.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Tue, Oct 15, 13 at 12:00

I found one under a rotting log in my back yard, I figured it meant there was a food web thing going on and was happy about it. I think they eat pill bugs or other insects that gather in the same neighborhoods.

Guys... just search engine it on the lizards and lymes. ;) What I just did... ticks that bite into lizards.. the lizards blood kills the bacteria containing lymes. There's many articles and research done on it plus another... they ridded lizards in 1 area and ticks mainly attacked rats and 95% died.
A lot of studies... easy to find. ;)

Btw... I am a survivor of lymes!!! I ridded it with antis immediately. I highly recommend for all to research the effects of lymes on the human body so you know if you ever fall ill if this is what you have... not all ticks stay embedded nor does everyone get the target rash.

I hope somebody figures out how to turn lizard blood into a human vaccine or treatment, or something you can spray to de-lyme an entire county...

If the lizard is natural, organic and local there should be no problem.

I was going to make a joke about farmed lizards from Asia, or GMO lizards...then I started thinking about food safety...which reminded me of the story a couple years back where someone had bought a bag of frozen green beans and found segments of a small lizard. It had been cut and frozen right along with the beans!

I tend to get garter or small black snakes. I'd rather have lizards like that.

Many's the time I feel a sudden piercing pain on my hand, lift it, and find a small snake hanging off my hand. They tend to let go when they realize they definitely bit off something much larger than they can chew--but that could easily chew them.

I've lived in some parts of Asia where people are phobic about lizards, much like many people are phobic about snakes. I grew up in North America and luckily was never exposed to the idea of lizard phobia, so I like them. Their little hands are kinda cute!

Spiders, now, I AM phobic about. I'd much rather have lizards in the house than spiders, and since I think they eat the same things, I try to preserve any lizards I find in the house and remove or kill or the spiders.

I've never seen a lizard in MY yard, I am in zone 6a Pa, so, I think the only lizards around in MY area are "mud puppies" that live up in the mountains, and some small lizards live in areas where there are creeks and small places with some freshwater tiny rivers. I had seen them as a kid a short way from my yard, in the woods nearby. So, they CAN live here, BUT, they must not like to be where people are. Plus, MY compost is in a barrel that you turn, so, IF they went in it, they could be crushed if I turn it without seeing them.

I did see some nice BIG ones when I went to Puerto Rico, and the Virgin islands on a cruise. I was NOT afraid of them, BUT, snakes, I am fine as long as I know they can't "get me".

And as long as they hadn't been TOO close to my house.

Last summer I saw a BIG "black snake" on the driveway, and it was about 150 -200 feet from our house, so, I just watched it slither under a evergreen tree we have and into a drainage pipe.

It was dark but it had a pattern on it that was slightly lighter or darker than the rest of it's color, so, it must have been a black snake. I had seen a "black racer" years ago up in a tree, probably trying to steal some bird eggs. I moved it with a rake into the field not far away. It was tired from my moms dog throwing it up and down, maybe even injured, so, it didn't even move as I carried it with the rake. I wouldn't kill it or hurt it, they eat mice, and with the fields near us, it helps, plus my moms cats do some of the mouse killing. BUT, ironically, some of the cats have brought mice IN the house to "play with", my brother has become an expert "mouse catcher" himself as a result of the cats doing that, BUT, they haven't done it in a while, but, they still leave some mouse carcasses on the porch now and then, even a squirrel 1 time.

BTW, as far as people in Asia fearing snakes, I don't blame them, they have the Cobras and other venomous snakes there that can kill you maybe even blind you (spitting cobra) if the spitting cobras are in Asia, I know they have them in Africa.

We have lizards and anoles here in north Texas. I made a new compost pile recently in late November 2022, when the temperatures were very cool. I left it a couple of days and when I checked it, there was my friend, a very big lizard who found his way under the covering. My new compost piles gradually heat up over 140°F-160°F, so I was sad to see that he had actually cooked himself there. That is a drawback concerning lizards, with making composts in cooler seasons.

That's sad your lizard got cooked. Maybe besides the heat, he could also get some insects to munch on. You'd think he'd have left when it got hot, but maybe they don't know any better than to leave when it heats up gradually.

Yes, I think it might be like "the frog in the pot" analogy. He was my favorite.