December 6th, 2023

This past weekend, I led my first big event as a L.A. Zoo employee. In partnership with Cosplay for Science, I planned a panel at LA Comic Con and a fantasy themed bioblitz. A bioblitz is a community science activity where community members gather in a space for a set duration of time to document the plants and animals in that space. During the bioblitz I spotted this western fence lizard.

Western fence lizards, aka blue bellies (because they have blue on their bellies), can be found throughout California. They are typically active dusk till dawn from March- October so I was very surprised to see this one out basking. Occasionally if its warm enough, lizards will come out to bask and feed. We are getting 80 degree days here in Los Angeles so I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising they’re taking advantage of the warmth.

Can you #FindThatLizard?

Let me know with #FoundThatLizard!