Fledgling Rescue

Blue Jay 

A few weeks ago, on one late afternoon, we noticed  our cat, Oliver meowing at a window. when we looked out, we saw a fledgling blue jay sitting right outside the glass. My dad went out and nudged it on his finger. It was very calm so we all got to hold the bird. We then went to the front yard to try and find the parents.  A little while later they showed up and started fussing at us. We put the blue jay in a small red oak tree in our front yard. We wanted him high enough that a cat couldn't get to him, but low enough that it wouldn't hurt him if he jumped out. The parents fed their baby until nightfall and the little bird spent the night in our tree.

The next morning, we saw the parents feeding the bird again but this time, with the help of a mocking bird. The mocking bird was also dive bombing the neighborhood cats to keep them away. We think they must be friends.

After the baby had been fed, the parents coaxed him out of the tree and taught him to fly. He had some trouble with landings, but by the end of the day they were flying together and we see them around a lot.

Baby Mocking Birds 
Last week, we had another baby bird situation. We found two baby mocking birds. One in the front yard, and one in the back. We caught them both and put them in an old Easter basket. Both of them seemed very nervous. we then hung the basket in a tree and went inside. The mom and dad found them immediately and started to feed them. One bird jumped out of the basket about 10 minutes after we hung it, and the other one stayed for about 2 hours and then jumped out with the parents.

We saw them a few days later, learning to fly just down the block. they weren't doing so well at first, but we think they got the hang of it because we don't see the family around.

4th guest, Ground Skink

These two images are of our latest guest, the Ground Skink, which is a common reptile found in many parts of Texas. 

Description:

Also known as the Little Brown Skink, the Ground Skink is probably our smallest guest so far! Their species' average length is about 3 to 5.5 inches, but our was smaller than that!

Native or Not?

the Ground Skink is native to the Southern U.S and northern Mexico.  

Diet: 

We fed this little guy flightless fruit flies, small crickets and ants. 

Habitat: 

We found our Skink along a small stream in a friend's backyard. 

Any Special Behaviors? 

Our Ground Skink hid for many hours a day in some store- bought pet moss, and rarely came out for food. 

Release: 

We released our Skink in our backyard near the same spot we had seen another run by. 

P.S- Sorry we haven't posted in a while, we've been on vacation for the past week!

3rd Guest, Rough Earth Snake

These images are of our latest guest, the Rough Earth Snake.

Description:
This snake has scales ranging from tan to light brown. Its tongue is a key feature about this animal, because it often uses it to smell. Rough earth snakes get no bigger than 14 inches. Ours was about 11 inches long.

Native or Not?
Rough earth snakes are native to the Southern U.S and northern Mexico.

Diet: We fed our snake meal worms. In the wild, they eat worms and soft-shelled insects. 

Habitat/ Range:

This snake was found under a flat rock in a garden. 

Any Special Behaviors?

Our snake (we named our snake Kaa) was wild at first, so when we held him, he peed on our hands. But as he got used to us, he stopped doing that and was calm. He allowed us to hold him and did not try to escape. He would curl up around our fingers.

In his cage, he would bury himself under the dirt so we couldn't see him for most of the day. These snakes are strong, so they can be hard to catch.

Release:

Kaa was released in the exact spot we caught him. 

Our Forever Pet: Milk Snail

You might walk outside and see a garden snail climbing up your favorite pot,or eat escargot in pairs.  But have you ever seen anything like this? Snowball here is a milk snail. Milk snails are escargot snails and the newest and permanent guest of the Hotel 4 Lizards. 


Native Or Introduced Species?
The milk snail is an invasive species that is native to Europe and parts of North Africa.

Diet: 
We Feed our milk snail iceberg lettuce

Habitat/ Range:
We found this snail on a fence at a neighbor's house.

Any special behaviors? 
He had a slight crack in his shell. When snail's have a cracked or broken shell, they will cover up the opening of their shell with a calcium layer. When its time to come out, they will break the layer and feed.

Second Guest; Green Anole

This is an image of the green anole we caught. You might recognize this lizard, because they are very common throughout the southern U.S. 

Description: 

The Green Anole (Also known as the Carolina Anole) can range from about 5 to 8 inches long. Many people get confused with the green anole and the brown anole, because the Green Anole can change color (From green to brown). However, the Brown Anole is an invasive species from Cuba, and has more color markings plus a dinosaur- like wrinkle down its back. 

Native or Introduced Species? 

The Green Anole is Native to southeastern United States and some Caribbean islands. Many people catch them and keep them as pets, but they are available in pet stores. 

Diet: 

The Carolina Anole's diet consists of a variety of small insects like crickets and grasshoppers and even some grasses. People who keep them as pets feed them mealworms, grubs, and maggots. 

Habitat/ Range:

We found this lizard on the trunk of a crape myrtle near some iris plants. 

Any Special Behaviors? 

The Anole changes color when stressed, or when about to attack. When the lizard felt intimidated, he would raise his head, and expand this red pouch under his neck that only the males have. 

Release: 

We released the lizard right where we found him.. 

First Guest: Texas Spiny Lizard

Our first guest was a Texas Spiny Lizard. We caught him (or her?) in our back yard and kept him for one week.

Description
The Texas Spiny Lizard is a fairly large lizard. They can grow up to a foot long. They are in the same family as the horned lizard. Our guest was only 6 inches long from head to tail.

Native or Introduced Species?
The Texas Spiny Lizard is a native species. You can capture/collect them as long as you have a Texas hunting license.

Diet
We fed it crickets and wood lice (doodle bugs/rollie-pollies).

Habitat/Range
The Spiny Lizard is found in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico. It likes semi-arid regions. We found this one near a rotting stump.

Any Special Behaviors?
The lizard shed its skin on the third day that we had him. It was also fairly tame and we could handle it without it really trying too hard to escape.

Release
We released the lizard at the exact spot where we found him.