Yesterday I stopped outside to take a walk, and at least six lizards scattered before me as though I were the bow of a ship and they were the waves moving away. When birds do this—scatter when you near—it’s called plowing. So I suppose the lizards plowed before me. Most of them were zebra-tailed lizards, like this. They are an interesting creature. They move ahead of us often, as though leading us away from something, wagging their upturned tail the whole way. This one is male; note the green on its belly.
Sometimes they hide in the dirt and burst out in a small puff of dust as they run off. Always a little startling.