Lizard Release

What a fantastic auntie Lorraine is!

She has often told me how she gets lizards in her garden - in fact she told us that the kids often let the lizards just hang off their clothes. I have to say, I was a bit sceptical!

The only time I've seen a lizard in the wild was in France, and it was there for a second and then was gone!

So lizards in Heybridge that let you handle them?? It just didn't sound right.

Anyway, she stood by her word and rang me on Friday to tell me that she'd just rescued a lizard from her cat! And it was in a bucket in her shed if I wanted to see it.

So I picked Leah up from preschool and rushed over to see it! How cute! But Lorraine's fantasticness didn't stop there - she found an old fish tank and parcelled up the lizard for me to take home to show her neices and nephew!

How lucky are they to hold a lizard - and Lorraine was right, it did just sit on their hand - I expected it to scuttle away, but it was just happy (well, I say happy, maybe it was frozen in fear!?) to sit and be passed around between my 3 kids...and Megan's friend Buffy who was over...and Lily, Louis, Brandon and Bobby from next door...and their friends Adam and Ryan! What a great pet it would have made, but I was strong against their begging!

So we piled into the car and went to Danbury Common to pick the right spot to release it! And it couldn't be just any old spot - they marched me round the park looking for the perfect place! Until the lizard took matters into his own hands and saw his chance! It was Leahs turn to hold him and he must have realised she was his best opportunity for escape. He dived for freedom and as we all pounced after him - he did that scuttling thing I was expecting from the start! And vanished into thin air!

The kids fancied staying at the common a bit longer and spent a bit of time looking for more wildlife to persuade me to keep. I eventually gave in to their nagging and promised that if they managed to find a skunk, we could keep it as a pet. I know, I'm a generous mum! And they spent at least half an hour looking for one!

The girls didn't need any entertaining - they liked wandering about, just exploring.

Actually, they were writing notes to a fairy to ask her to leave them a skunk or other animal to keep as a pet. They would leave the note on a branch then check back ever few minutes to see if she had obliged! You just can't trust a fairy nowadays - we went home empty handed!

When I gave them the selotape from my bag as requested, I didn't think too much about what they would do with it! Megan and Buffy were thrilled to be tied to the bench by Leah and Sam?! I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this photo to Buffy's mum!