One time when I was taking out the trash cans, I got distracted by something moving erratically in my peripheral vision. It was long and skinny and flopping around kind of crazily. I was pretty sure it was a lizard’s tail, but it was flopping around and twisting so crazily that at first it kind of looked like a small snake.
Yes, a small snake. Meaning, it was a rather long tail. Meaning, it must have come from a rather large lizard. Large enough that you’d think I would have seen a lizard running around. But I never did. There was no evidence of a lizard. Other than its tail flopping around by the trash cans.
Anyway, I watched the tail writhe on the floor for a while because I was wondering how long it would keep that up. My brother decided to come out and join me in watching the tail. He expressed a moderate amount of disgust. Yaris was very interested in the tail as well, but I told her she wasn’t allowed to go close to it. So she went to do something else (in a huff). The tail gradually ramped down its theatrics for about 5 minutes and was probably completely still after about 10. I left it there. I forgot to check on it the next morning but I’m going with the assumption that some animal carried it off for a snack.
I feel sorry for the lizard. I’m sure losing one’s tail is quite stressful. And then you have to expend the energy and resources to grow a new one. And the new one is never the same as the old one. If I had seen the lizard, I would have let it escape without any issues. I had no intention of harming it. I like lizards. They’re friends. Poor lizard dropped its tail for nothing.
Anyway, here’s a smallish article on lizards dropping their tails.
Random moosages as I see fit. 