Tag: backyard

Posted in wildlife

Hunting lizards

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After spending the night with us, my eight-year-old grandson couldn’t wait to get up this morning to hunt for lizards in our yard. He put together a small habitat for them by putting soil, rocks, a stick, and a bottle cap full of water into a used plastic cashew container. He punched a few holes in the lid and was ready to start rounding them up.

Plenty of lizards were up early to catch some sun on our fence, garden wall, and backyard trees. But catching them was tough. They are fast. If you happen to get a tail between your fingers, it often breaks off as the lizard escapes.

He had much better luck with a red solo cup. Sneaking up to a green species, he quickly covered it, slid a piece of cardboard between the cup and the fence, and had his first catch of the day. He placed the cup over the opening of the jar and pulled away the cardboard, introducing the reptile to his new home. Once the top was screwed on, it was time to figure out what to feed this guy.

My grandson said, “Now I have to find some bugs to feed him.”

I said, “That’s going to be tough. Maybe he would eat some lettuce. I’ll get you some.”

He snuck a piece of green leaf lettuce into the container, and we sat down to watch. By this time, the lizard, sitting on the soil, had turned brown. “Cool, a chameleon!” I don’t know if this was actually a chameleon, but he was good at blending into his environment.

I cautioned, “Make sure you leave the container in the shade.” It was already a warm day, and I knew direct sunlight would be too warm. We found a shady spot in a planter near the house.

Occasionally, we would go back out and look at him. He would look back at us. We think he took a bite of the lettuce leaf.

After my grandson went home, I took the lid off the container. I don’t know when he’ll be back. I figured if the lizard likes it there, he can stay. Or he can roam around the yard and return home at night. Or he can just go free. We can always catch another one.

Both my grandchildren and my dogs love to hunt lizards. I guess the word hasn’t gotten out that our yard isn’t a safe place to hang out.

Posted in Life

Vivid backyard memories

Posted on by William Douthwaite
My childhood backyard from the bottom of the hill

The moment my daughter and her family moved into their new home, her boys were outside, running around and playing in the yard. They kicked soccer balls around with their cousins and threw balls for the dog to retrieve. The two previous houses they lived in had little yard to play in. This is so good for them!

What a blessing to have a yard to play in. The home I grew up in had the biggest fenced in backyard on the block. The yard included a big hill with flat areas at the top and bottom. We could roll down the hill pretty fast, crashing into the fence at the bottom. We had enough room to play baseball and football even though we had to climb over the fence to retrieve hits and kicks. In the fall, the maple trees left behind plenty of leaves for huge piles to jump in. In the winter, a little snow made our yard the best sledding hill around. By building a small ramp, we could get airtime with a saucer sled. We ate a lot of mulberries from the trees at the bottom of the hill. My friends and I build a great fort at the bottom with some wood my dad got from a salvage yard. The dogs we owned over the years loved to chase balls thrown from the top of the hill all the way down to the far corner until they were exhausted. We set up giant games of croquet that covered our half-acre.

As I write this, I am amazed at how vivid my backyard memories are from fifty-plus years ago!