Creating a Natural Environment for Desert Spiny Lizards in the School Garden

When we were in the planning phase of our garden ten years ago, we decided that our school garden needed to be as natural as possible for all kinds of wildlife to visit and stay in the garden.  This is why desert spiny lizards exist in our garden today. The lizards are not school pets.  We do not have to buy any special food and we do not keep them in a cage or aquarium tank. The desert spiny lizards are there because the environment allows them to survive without any predators, such as snakes, hawks, and foxes.

Our school is in the Las Vegas Valley, which is in the Mojave Desert.  The Mojave Desert is where desert spiny lizards inhabit.  One of the quadrants in our school garden is the Mountain Riparian area. It has low slopes and grassy areas.

We built hills in the mountain riparian area
because the land was all flat.

    This low hill was built by wheelbarrowing sand and dirt.

We added trees and grasses to our mountain riparian area.

Another area that the desert spiny lizards like to visit is the desert area. This area has a Joshua tree, bushes, yuccas, and sandstone boulders. Lizards like to bask in the sun on top of boulders and find food near the Joshua tree, bushes and yuccas.

Desert Spiny Lizards like to rest on the
 boulders during the hot sun. They also like
the twisted leaf yucca and the Joshua tree.

The agricultural area provides a variety of insects for the lizards to eat.  Ants, beetles, crickets, aphids, spiders, wasps, caterpillars, moths, butterflies, cockroaches, and other bugs crawl on, under, or near the apricot, plum, peach, fig, pomegranate, pistachio, and almond trees.

It's definitely a buffet of bugs for our family of desert spiny lizards.

Quick Facts: Desert Spiny Lizard

                                                     Scientific Classification: Sceloporus Magister
Kingdom:  Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family:  Phrynosomatidae
Genus: Sceloporus
Species: Magister

Description
A stocky lizard with large pointed, overlapping scales.  Its base color is gray, tan, or brown.  Males have blue-green patches on their belly and under their throat.

Geographic Location
United States of America: Nevada, Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah; Mexico: Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango

Habitat
It lives in semi arid environments, rocky terrains, grassy plains, low mountain slopes, riparian woods. It prefers to live near Joshua trees, creosote bushes, mesquite tress, yuccas, and grasses.

Diet
This lizard feeds on insects such as ants, spiders, beetles, caterpillars, wasps, moths, butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets, and other bugs.  They get water from the insects that they eat.  On rare occasions they eat green plants.

Behavior
This diurnal animal basks in the sun and scurries to safety under boulders, burrows, crevices, and vegetation. It hibernates during late fall and the cold months or winter. It takes shelter during extreme heat or cold conditions. This lizard is a good climber and is often seen on rocks, trees, and walls.

Adaptations
The desert spiny lizard uses camouflage to avoid predators. It also adjusts its internal temperature by changing color so they are darker during cool times and lighter during warmer times. In the winter they become darker so that they could absorb more heat from the sun. During the summer their lighter coloration allows them to reflect more solar radiation.  This lizard also has a powerful limb musculature that allows rapid acceleration and can change direction rapidly to catch insects or escape predators.

Reproduction
Mating takes place in spring or early summer.  Females lay 3 to 24 eggs in the summer and take 60 to 75 days to hatch. Each female can lay up to 3 clutches of young in a year.

Predators
Coachwhip snakes, longnose leopard lizards, hawks, foxes, and coyotes prey on desert spiny lizards.

This is a female desert spiny lizard that lives in our school garden.
This picture was taken in the summer.  Notice its light coloration.

Lizzy, Our Desert Spiny Lizard

Lizzy just appeared one day in our school garden.  We did not buy her at any store.  We do not know where she came from.  All we know is that we started a school garden ten years ago, and from time to time we saw a tiny lizard or two. Our garden does have a natural dry wash area, so perhaps there was more than one lizard in the area already.  We were never quite sure how many lizards there were in the garden before it became Jardin Del Sol (The Sun's Garden).

Nevertheless, Lizzy is getting quite big now and is more frequently seen in one of our compost bins foraging for food, basking in the sun on top of Windsor blocks in the agricultural area, or scurrying into the mountain riparian or the desert quadrant.

A few years ago when Lizzy was smaller, she would stop in front of a group of our students that would be working in the vegetable garden. A brave and curious student or two would pick her up gently.  Lizzy would crawl up their shoulders and go to the top of their heads.  Now that Lizzy is big, she does not let anyone get too close to her.  She does have a family of her own now. So, we know that she has a mate somewhere in the garden.  Every once in a while we see a few of her young scampering around in the early morning sun or late afternoon in the same favorite locations.

Lizzy, our Desert Spiny Lizard, is resting on Windsor block in the agricultural area.

Prevent Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Besides dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are the two most alarming emergencies that we are preventing at our school garden. Dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion, and then heat stroke. Here are some more tips to follow so that your school garden volunteers, families, and students will be safe.

Safety Tips

• Wear wide brimmed hats.
• Wear light colored, loose fitting clothing.
• Rest regularly in shady areas.
• Avoid strenuous activities for long periods of time.
• Drink sufficient water and sports drinks.
• Don't wait to be thirsty to drink.
• Avoid caffeinated drinks, like coffee or soda.
• Avoid drinks that have high amounts of sugar.
• Avoid heavy meals.

Heat Exhaustion Can Lead to Heat Stroke

Since we live in the Mojave Desert, we are extremely careful when there are heat advisories for our valley.  Most of our summer days are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Throughout the summer,  we have adult and child volunteers working and visiting our school garden.  Keeping everyone hydrated is key to preventing heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Remember that when we work in the garden, our body temperature increases.  When this heat production exceeds heat loss, heat exhaustion occurs.  The body temperature will be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the body temperature reaches 105 degrees Fahrenheit, heat exhaustion becomes heat stroke.

Signs of Heat Stroke

• very high body temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit
• fainting
• confusion
• excessive sweating or red, hot, dry skin
• seizures
• loss of consciousness

Treatment of Heat Stroke

• Call 911 immediately.
• Move person to a shady, cool area or an air-conditioned building.
• Remove any unnecessary clothing.
• Loosen clothing.
• Apply cold packs in arm pits.
• Stay with the person.
• Fan the person.
• Sponge the entire body surface with cool water, but don't let the person shiver.

Summer Heat is a a Hazard

When is it too hot to work in the garden? 

Answer: When temperatures rise over 105 degrees Fahrenheit, humidity increases, and there is no breeze of wind, it is too hot to work for prolonged periods of time.  If you are planning to do strenuous work or are in contact with machinery that radiates heat, be careful working in the garden.

A human body needs to maintain a stable, internal temperature.  Therefore, it needs to get rid of excess heat.  In order to get rid of excess heat, a body must sweat to cool off.  When the air temperature is close to or warmer than the normal body temperature, cooling the body becomes more difficult.  If the body cannot get rid of the excess heat, it will store it.  This is when the core body temperature increases and can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Signs of Heat Exhaustion

• body temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit to 102 degrees Fahrenheit
• heavy sweating
• dizziness
• extreme thirst
• dark colored urine
• headache
• pale skin
• rapid breathing
• rapid heartbeat
• fatigue or weakness
• muscle cramps

Treatment for Heat Exhaustion

• Move the person to a cool, shady area or move them inside to an air-conditioned area.
• Drink plenty of cool water or sports drinks.
• Apply cold compresses or ice packs to exposed skin.
• Fan the person to increase evaporation.
• Do not have the person return to work in the garden that day.
• Take the person to the emergency room if symptoms worsen within 30 minutes, because it can progress to heat stroke.

Prevent Dehydration

No matter what time of year it is, we are always concerned about dehydration when working in the garden.  Children and adults need to be aware of how much water is leaving and entering their bodies.

Tips to Prevent Dehydration

• Encourage adults and students to replace fluids at a rate that equals the loss of fluids.
• Avoid exposure during high heat index days.
• Work when temperatures are cooler in the day.
• Wear light colored and loose fitting clothing.
• Find shady areas to work in or rest in.
• Take a lunch or snack break in an air conditioned room, even if it is for half an hour.

Make sure to prepare 5 gallon jugs of water, lemonade, and/or Gatorade filled before students and volunteers arrive in your school garden.  Encourage everyone to bring their own refillable bottles so that waste is reduced. Be prepared for those that don't bring their own bottles and bring twice as much as cups as needed.  Otherwise, ask volunteers or students to bring cases of water and Gatorade to share.  In hot weather, buy bags of ice to keep the drinks cold.

Stay in the shade.

Rotate teams to rest and stay hydrated in the shade.

Keep drinks in a shaded, central location for volunteers.

Beware of Dehydration

Believe it or not, but 75% of our body's weight is water.  Most of the water is found within the cells of the body.  The rest is found in blood, other body fluids, and around the cells. It is very important to drink plenty of water or sports drinks when working in the garden. If not careful, dehydration can occur.

Causes of Dehydration

Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount being taken in.  We lose water when we breathe, urinate, and sweat.  Depending upon weather conditions, working in the garden can generate 16 ounces of sweat or more.

Signs of Dehydration

• increased thirst 
• dry mouth
• muscle cramps
• lightheadedness
• decreased urine output
• fainting
• heart palpitations
• urine becomes more yellow in color
• nausea and vomiting
• no tears

Severe Dehydration Symptoms

• confusion and weakness
• coma
• organ failure

Treatment for Dehydration

• Drink drinks that have electrolytes such as Gatorade.
• Sip small amounts of fluid at a time.
• Do not drink large amounts of water at one time.
• Remove excess clothing.
• Take the person to a shaded area in the garden, an air conditioned room inside a building, or near a fan.
• Place wet towels around the person.
• Spray skin surfaces with a spray bottle or mister.
• Do not put ice packs or ice water on the person.  

Possible Complications

• seizure
• permanent brain damage
• death

Seek medical treatment if the person is confused, has low blood pressure, is vomiting, has nausea, or has a fever.  Call 911 or take the person to the emergency room if near by. 

Repurposing Flagstone for a Charming Pathway

When we have a big project like the pumpkin patch redesign in the agricultural area, we end up with left over materials.  In this case, we had small pieces of flagstone and a ton of pea gravel. 

Along our fence line from our mountain riparian into our agricultural area was a dirt path that students took.  It was formed over time because students like to go around the hills.  Since we already had pea gravel and flagstone pathways in the agricultural area, we decided to add a narrow pathway connecting the two areas where there was a lot of foot traffic.

First, clear the pathway of all the weeds and put a ring of block around the trees.  The path does not have to be level because it has a slight grade to climb into the hill areas of the mountain riparian area. Next, place the small pieces of flagstone into a mosaic design.  Don't over think the mosaic.  Just start placing pieces down and it will all come together once you add the pea gravel. Once the mosaic is completely laid out, dump piles of pea gravel over the flagstone.  The pea gravel will fall into the open spaces.  Use your hands, which have gloves on, to smooth out the pea gravel and wipe off excess gravel off of the flagstone.  

That's how we made our charming pathway connecting the mountain riparian area and the agricultural area.

Put block around the trees.

Randomly place odd pieces of flagstone on the path.

Dump piles of pea gravel onto the flagstone.                              

Pea gravel will fall in between the flagstone
once you push the gravel with your hand.

  Don't be too concerned about a few pieces
of pea gravel on the flagstone.

Always start at one end of the path and
               work your way down.

Enjoy a stroll along the charming pathway joining
our mountain riparian and agricultural areas.

Hay: A Benefit With a Drawback

Since our school garden is in the middle of the Mojave Desert and the temperature in the Las Vegas Valley is a record breaking 122 degrees, we decided to use hay as a mulch for our newly planted pumpkin seeds, herbs, and trees.

Hay bales are ready to be used to cool down new plants and retain moisture.

In the beginning of the growing season, hay encourages faster growth, prevents evaporation, conserves moisture, adds organic material over time as it decomposes, and reduces weed growth.

Hay is composed of cut wheat or barley stalks.  Straw is used for animal bedding, not feed.  Be sure to use Certified Noxious Weed Free bales of hay.

A drawback to using hay is that weed seeds are trapped in the bales of hay. Once hay gets watered, the weed seeds can sprout. Unfortunately, new types of weeds can be introduced into the garden.

Besides hay, we also use sawdust, bark chips, wood chips, leaves, and pine needles as mulch.  It depends on the time of year and what is available to us.

So for hot weather relief, help your newly sown seeds, trees, and flower beds with some kind of mulch.

An herb garden bed without any mulch will stress plants.

Fran and granddaughter, Savannah, are laying straw on pumpkin seeds that were just put into the soil.

Hay is placed on newly sown seeds so that birds
 don't eat them before they get a chance to grow.

Savannah is happy to protect her
pumpkin seeds from extreme heat and birds.