The Little Buddy

Lizards abound in the St. Lucie River region and throughout FL. Judging from past experience receiving store-bought lizards in PA and as a tenant residing in northern California, the little beasts thrive without molestation and especially like escapable lamplight zones.

Above:  slightly-open utility-access cover, Old St. Lucie Road in Stuart FL [time-date stamp is wrong]

This past week, the household 'little buddy' again demonstrated somewhat ghastly capabilities that appear to be training exercises remotely controlled by his outdoors mother. Having one time thought to grasp his tiny tail and move him so as to prevent crushing him between planter box and watering-container, he quickly back-stepped and shed the tip of the tail and ran away, just as some varieties of salamander do.

But last week, he demonstrated his 'shed-skin' capability -- tiny and almost weightless, the 'little buddy' entered the condo from beneath the door and began to navigate the kitchen environment, searching for crumbs and garbage-pail cast-offs. However, upon encountering my walking form he alighted on my foot and was thrust into the bedroom quite involuntarily. With two people sleeping soundly in twin beds, he was pinned on the floor just a few feet from some apricots in a dish.

Upon arising in the morning, the spirit of the 'little buddy' was gone; only a dried husk remained, its open mouth stuffed with household dust/human skin cells. During routine pick-up, an old birdseed, a feather from a comforter, and the shed lizard-husk were tossed outside onto a bush.

Some people might cruelly flush them.