Lizards in the Garden? Great!

The garden is a diverse environment and is the home of many living organisms aside from your plants. So, don’t be surprised whenever you see lizards crawling around your garden. They are out there for a good reason. Although they seem like lazy creepers, they’re as important as any other organism because they help maintain balance in our ecosystem.

What are Lizards?

Lizards are classified as reptiles. They belong to a class which includes turtles, crocodiles and snakes. Their unifying characteristics include having dry, scaly skin and they have the ability to breathe with their lungs. Most of the time, lizards are mistaken for salamanders because they both have the same body shapes. However, these two are entirely different from each other as far as biology is concerned.

Generally harmless, lizards mostly feed on insects like ants, aphids, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps and spiders. They help maintain the low population of harmful insects around your plants, especially the ones that cause real trouble. Lizards are natural predators and could help protect your plants from the damage some insects bring.

They are quite efficient in their way of catching insects because they just stick out their tongue to catch their prey. They crush them using their jaws and swallow them whole.

Why are Lizards Found in Gardens?

Food is the primary reason why lizards visit or stay in the garden. Since they find their prey visually, they look for areas with a high population of insects. Your garden is an ideal place for food hunting. Although some lizards feed on leaves and vegetation, most of them are carnivores.

Lizards in the garden are nothing to worry about. They are not harmful to plants, pets, or humans. Their presence could be viewed as a good indication of a healthy and balanced ecosystem in your garden. Gardens that are free of pesticides are often attractive to lizards.

How to Manage Lizards?

The best solution there is to just allow the lizards to exist. Let them live in your gardens where they naturally belong. Trapping or getting rid of them will just do more harm than good in the long run. Besides, it would be a great advantage to have a natural insect predator out there.

Lizards are a sustainable solution to your insect problems. So instead of making them your enemy, it would be better to befriend them.