Making Lizards My New Friends

I got bit by a Deer Tick a week ago. I've become paranoid about developing Lyme Disease. Each ache and pain I've felt has me wondering whether or not that tick was infected. (I saved the tick, just in case).

So, I was very intrigued when I stumbled across this older article. I found the article through Ecologia Design which is a very talented landscaping company based out of Frederick, MD (do yourself a favor and check out their site...they have some truly fanastic ideas).

According to the article, there are less rates of Lyme Disease out West due to the large lizard population. Scientists have discovered a protein in lizard's blood that kills the Lyme Disease causing bacterium. When a tick bites the lizard, the bacterium "cleanses" the tick's blood. Nature is pretty amazing.

What should we folks do East of the Mississippi River? Help protect lizard populations by providing more lizard friendly habits (lot of mulch, ground covers, rock piles and walls).

The photo above is a habitat wall for lizards at the RBC New Wild Garden built by Nigel Dunnett & The Landscape Agency (photo from Ecologia Design). The wall looks very sculpture and seems like a beautiful and smart solution in the battle against Lyme's Disease.

I love the mix of rock, metal and wood. It looks you could find the materials at a place like the Loading Dock or Community Forklift. I'm definitely adding "Build a Habitat Wall for Lizards" to my list of future projects for our future house.

I am definitely looking at lizards in a new light.