The Ocellated Lizard is a wall lizard that can grow up to 90 cm in length, however two thirds of that is it´s tail. It lives in rocks and scrubland and can climb walls and also, as can be seen here, trees. They have beautiful markings on their back giving them their name. The males, as in this case, have blue spots along their sides. This chappy was at a picnic area and climbed the tree when it saw me, right up into the top branches. I had seen one the other day in Peralvillo but finally got a good look at one near Alcolea de Calatrava. Beautiful creature.
They say also there is a dish called Lagarto en Tomate in Extremadura, however whether or not it was made from lizard in the past, Lagarto de Cerdo is used which is a particular cut of pork between the chop and the fillet near the spine of the pig. Hopefully people aren´t running about catching these beauties for dinner.
One thought on “The Ocellated Lizard”
What a great shot! I saw one big ocellated lizard once in the forest and I was astonished. It’s such an amazing creature!