Tweeters,

It's started out to be a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. If you get out in
a boat
on Puget Sound or Hood Canal, I have something you might look out for. The
western fence lizard is one of only two lizards native to western
Washington. It is a biogeographical curiosity because it is typically found
in dry forest types like the Oregon white oak forests of the Columbia River
gorge and the Ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest types of the east
slope of the Cascade Mountains. Yet, it is living on the upper beaches of
Puget Sound and Hood Canal, widely separated by both space and suitable
habitat. Here's the locality information and dates that I have (most of it
from museum records):

TULALIP SHORES 00/00/1993
SPI-BE-DAH 00/00/1993
WARM BEACH 00/00/1993
MCKEES BEACH 00/00/1993
CHUCKANUT BEACH, POPULATION INTRODUCED. 00/00/1993
SW SEATTLE 02/09/1947
SEATTLE 06/12/1947
1 MI S OF LINCOLN PARK, WEST SEATTLE 04/18/1947
ARROYA CANYON, SEATTLE 04/00/1956
S END OF MAURY ISLAND 04/08/1939
SW CORNER OF MAURY ISLAND 08/16/1938
TACOMA 08/10/1939
TACOMA, THE NARROWS 06/06/1950
1 MI N OF PUGET SAND AND GRAVEL BANK, PIERCE CO. 08/28/1940
GRAVEL PIT 1 MI E OF NEW TACOMA CEMETARY 00/00/0000
SE CORNER OF HERON ISLAND 08/28/1940
NORTH END OF HERRON ISLAND 05/24/1941
KETRON 04/06/1938
MCNEIL ISLAND 04/02/1939
SOUTH END OF FOX ISLAND 05/21/1943
NW END OF FOX ISLAND 04/21/1941
GRAVEL PIT, CHAMBERS CREEK 05/00/1947
COUNTY GRAVEL PIT, CHAMBERS CREEK 08/20/1937
STEILACOOM 05/19/1937
DEVILS HEAD 08/28/1940
FORT STEILACOOM 00/00/0000
DUCKABUSH RIVER, AT MOUTH 07/06/1946
ROAD BANK 100-200 YARDS ABOVE 10/02/1937
4 MI W OF BREMERTON 09/20/1939
HOODSPORT 07/24/1945
HOLLY BEACH, HOOD CANAL 10/06/1945
HOOD CANAL NEAR BELFAIR 04/16/1940
GRAVEL PIT NORTHWEST OF BELFAIR 04/15/1992
BECKETS POINT, DISCOVERY BAY 05/24/1941

As you can see, most of the information is very old (available today because
John Slipp, Professor James Slater, and Dr. Murray Johnson dedicated
themselves to the study of these critters in the 1930s and 40s). Dr. Herb
Brown has been studying western fence lizards on the Snohomish and Whatcom
County beaches so there is recent information for these sites. For many of
the rest, I don't know if populations still exist. I would like to know.
Western fence lizards are a very interesting and uncommon part of Puget
Sound's native fauna. So, if you see a very rough-scaled lizard (catch one
and you can get a look at the beautiful metallic blue patches on the
underbelly), I would like to hear about it. I'll be out on some south Puget
Sound beaches tomorrow.

Kelly McAllister
alleyes at tssnet1.tss.net