Crotaphytus collaris collaris
(Say 1823)
Washington Co., Missouri. April 21, 1976.
As a boy in Missouri, Paul Anderson’s Reptiles of Missouri was one of the few books available to me in the school library, and I spent many hours poring over it. One of the most intriguing species listed was the Eastern Collared Lizard, with an isolated population about eighty miles away from my home. I eventually visited the area, thanks to Don Keutzer, my high school science teacher, and we were able to capture and examine several of these lizards. How does one capture a collared lizard? You can get to them early in the cool morning, while they are still sleeping under flat rocks. Once they are warmed up and active, they are a tough capture without a noose. The lizards below are from western Colorado.
My Flickr album for this species is here.
HerpMapper records for this species are here.
