God’s ‘Little’Creatures – Durban Dwarf Burrowing Skink
Today I would like to share these awesome little lizards with you.
At first glance when folks come across these little lizards, people immediately see a reptile with no legs and scream “SNAKE” then the next step is usually to chop it up into tiny pieces.
But these little fellows are NOT snakes, they are also totally harmless. They only measure a maximum of 13cm in total length. Like geckos and a lot of other lizards they are able to shed their tail when they are threatened. They also have movable eyelids which they often keep closed while you are handling them. They live a burrowing existence in soft sandy soil, where they eat small ground living insects.
Unlike most other lizards, these little guys give live birth to between 2 to 5 young.
These babies take more than a year to mature into adults.
I am truly blessed to have these little guys living in my garden as they are a Critically Endangered. The range in which they can be found is only 3.6km, with the Bluff being a large part of that. They are severely threatened due to habitat destruction, even a simple well kept lawn provides major challenges to their survival as they cannot burrow through the grass roots. Paving and curbing can also be insurmountable obstetrical. The sandy soils of the Bluff is very likely the last place on earth that these can be found.
So now I would like to ask a huge favour, if you are lucky enough to see these in your garden, please try to keep a small sandy patch with a few rocks for them to live happily. And PLEASE do not kill them!
Please feel free to visit my Photography page for more pictures of God’s amazing little creatures found in and around the Bluff: www.facebook.com/WkDickPhotography
God Bless
Warren.K.Dick
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