Lizard Wrangling

I made a new friend last week. If you are on Facebook, you've already seen this, but some of you aren't on Facebook, and I thought you might enjoy seeing the photo. Pono and I had just returned to the car after a nice hike one morning and I found this wonderful creature underneath the car. I didn't want to run over it, so I poked it, to get it to run away. However, it was in the shade, and it was a pretty cool morning (for us). The lizard didn't move. I picked it up to move it, so as not to run over it. While it was hanging onto my fingers, I decided to photograph his (her?) handsome mug. 

Horned lizard.

Desert Camouflage extraordinaire!

If you would like to see another post I wrote about the horned lizard a while back, click here. Many people on Facebook said that they used to see a lot more of these lizards when they were young. According to some research I have done about them online, one of the main reasons we see less of them is because their diet is pretty exclusively ants. Since more and more people are using poison to kill ants, the horned lizard has a hard time. So if you want to see more horned lizards, let the ants live. (preferably outside.) I have been told that borax or dish soap will create a barrier that ants won't cross. So if you can find where they are coming in to your house, maybe try something like that to keep them out. 

In the studio, I have once more gone off in another direction. I would love to hear your thoughts about this new work, as I always love to hear from you, my readers.

(This one is still untitled.) Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches. ©karine swenson2013

Have a fabulous day, and thanks for reading!