Very nice! Exceptional ally, not terribly common to see them with their complete tail at that size or larger.
They're like rats in the hills of L.A. All I have to do to catch one there is set out a bucket or container of water. I've found them in vases, tin cans, my dog's water dish, the duck's wading tub and under pots and trash cans. I once left the bucket I use for water changes in my backyard and what did I find?
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...ata LA County/4-20-06052-HowtoCatchanAlly.jpg
In O.C. however I've noticed that they're not quite so common.
It's unlikely your ally is a northern. It's a young individual who might still be obtaining adult pattern and coloration so it being E. multicarinata shouldn't be ruled out. Down here one
might find E. m. multicarinata but E. m. webbii is more common. We're out of E. coerulea's typical range.
I happened to find a wickedly colored male on some steps just outside a house in Brea.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...nata Orange County/2-26-06087-SoAllyAdM1E.jpg
I'd never seen that kind of orange on an ally before. Most of the ones in L.A. are tan or olive and might have red or white markings.
I'm keeping the guy pictured, he's been with me for a year now and not all that ornery any more. They're typically distrustful and nasty at first but once they get used to a little handling they tend to calm. I found that while holding them around the head is the best way to keep ally teeth out of your fingers they're much easier to handle if you approach a pick-up from below, as opposed to picking them up from above. Gives them all the reason to swing around and bite. When picking up from below they try to run but don't try to reach under themselves to bite.
I found a female from L.A. to keep with the O.C. male and while the first few week or two was testy they settled in together and are practically inseperable. They're always huddled up together when hiding or sitting atop one another when basking. First time I found ally eggs I thought, "what's with the fat tic-tacs?"
. The female's got a funky lower jaw, I figure she chanced to escape a hawk or cat.
My boyfriend's kid brother loves catching lizards and throwing them into various recepticles to "keep" (better known as a slow starving death) . My contribution to the local lizard population is to release them when he's not looking but he's slowly learning that catching and releasing is more rewarding than catching and slowly starving them to death. Living in Orange County he's caught hundreds of fence lizards (bluebellies) and only a handful of allys.
I have to admit O.C. does have some gorgeous, fence lizards!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...ngipes Orange County/3-8-06002-WestFenceM.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...e County/2-5-06089-Sceloporusoccidentalis.jpg
Here's a helpful link to info on our native gems:
http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/pages/e.m.webbii.html
