NEVER heard of these before! Fan Kristy Kerner sent in a photo of this little guy with a note that said it was one of the many chuckwallas living underneath her pool heater.
Well, naturally – I had to look it up because now I’m thinking that Kristy is harboring dragons over at her house. But alas…Wikipedia tells me that a chuckwalla is a large lizard and that this is probably called the “Common Chuckwalla”, just based on our area of the country.
On average, they measure about 15 inches (seriously…that’s approaching dragon size, right?) and are primarily herbivores (whew!), feeding on leaves, fruit and flowers.
Harmless to humans, a chuckwalla will run from potential threats and when disturbed, will wedge itself into a tight rock crevice and inflate its lungs in order to entrench itself.
Mating occurs from April to July, with 5-16 eggs laid between June and August…hatching in September. Lifespan? 25 years or more!
A very cool new thing to have learned…thanks for sending in Lil’ Chucky’s headshot, Kristy!
