“We ought to make a video about our porch lizard.”

That’s what Kurt said one spring weekend while grilling dinner on the back porch. The porch lizard was pretty hard to miss. It was almost 11 inches long and had been hanging out every afternoon for weeks. We knew nothing about it except it didn’t seem to mind being around us.

After a quick Google search, we were pretty sure she was a female Texas Spiny Lizard. But to make certain, we reached out to a pair of Ph.D. biologists at the University of Texas. Both were very nice and confirmed we had identified “Liz” correctly.

Kurt started shooting video every chance he got, but the biggest problem in creating a lizard video is simply being 100% at the mercy of a lizard! Kurt never knew when he’d be able to shoot or how long our new reptilian friend would cooperate. So he started off just using his iPhone, testing how close he could get without scaring her off.

After that, he started keeping a larger video camera and tripod just inside our patio door, ready to go at a moment’s notice. I came home one afternoon to find Kurt on the back patio, flat on his stomach, dripping sweat onto the hot concrete. It was very awkward and uncomfortable but his long, slow approach allowed him to get himself and the camera within one foot of Liz. And he got some great shots!

He recorded her every chance he got, slowly building up a library of footage. He also talked to her, almost like a photographer with a model. He felt it helped her recognize him and get used to him being around. (Kurt freely admits there is no evidence to support his theory. But he did get a lot more video than he thought possible!)

Kurt knew he’d gone off the deep end when, during editing, he heard his own voice asking “Who’s a pretty lizard?” You know that tone of voice people use with little foo-foo dogs??? (He says it was a little disturbing.)

Now we regard Liz as “our” lizard even though she’s not domesticated and lives outdoors. We know lots of kids love lizards as well and we hope you enjoy sharing this video with your children!

P.S. This video shows how Liz lost her giant tail.  She’s been very cool about showing off her new one, so Kurt is already working on a second video. Here’s a quick teaser – a shot of Liz taken this morning. We guess the new tail is already close to 2 inches long.