LACERTA BILINEATA

Video of cannibalism among common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis). Pretty shocking, but not unusual behavior among the species. Filmed in the Ticino, Switzerland.

I filmed this lacerta bilineata in my garden in Monteggio, in the Malcantone region of the Ticino (Switzerland) in June 2015. This particular adult female western green lizard figures quite prominently in the photo galleries on my website though she looks different every time depending on the angle, the time of day and how her skin reflects the sunlight. A few days after I first spotted her in my garden (Monteggio, Malcantone, Ticino, Switzerland) in June 2015, dashing away to save herself from the presumed threat I posed, and after various similar encounters in my garden, she eventually decided I wasn't dangerous and simply not worth the trouble and waste of energy of fleeing. As long as I approached her very slowly and without any hectic movements, she would usually remain in place, though always with wary eyes, as you can see in this video.

Here I filmed a beautiful podarcis muralis (also known as common wall lizard or mauereidechse) in Monteggio, in the Malcantone region of the Ticino (Switzerland) in May 2020. It's an adult male, and that pillar marked an important elevated point for him that allowed him to oversee his territory. He would visit it several times a day, patrolling it up and down, to make sure no rivals would enter and the females would certainly notice him. You can tell it's mating season because his color patterns are more pronounced, particularly the orange belly and the blue dots on his sides. It may be a much more common animal than the rare and very shy lacerta bilineata, but it's still a beautiful lizard species, and I'm happy these agile reptiles live in my garden, and I never get tired of watching them.