Yard 'Lisk

Last week we had a new critter in the yard, or more accurately it was the first time we observed one of them in our yard. As I walked by the open kitchen door, I saw something dash past. It was a good-sized Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus), probably about 2 feet in length, and it paused on the path just beyond the terrace. I alerted Marco, who went right out with his camera and caught a few seconds of video of the beast. Marco looked down at the camera to get another shot, and when he looked back, the Basilisk was gone. He saw it barreling down the hill toward the creek. Basilisks have been clocked running at up to 7 miles per hour.

The Basilisk returned about an hour later, and while I cannot prove it, I think he was eyeing the birds coming and going at the feeders. When a chunk of banana falls out of the suet feeders, one or more birds always flies to the ground (adjacent to the path where I saw the Basilisk) to grab it. If I hadn't been disturbing the peace by working in the kitchen, the Basilisk might have been able to grab a nice meal.