If you find lizards in your garden, you can be happy about this special beneficial creature. Because the animals eat a lot that could otherwise harm the vegetables and other plants. Gardens that are close to nature offer the best habitat here.
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Favorite lizard food
If there are many flowering plants in a cottage garden , then there are also many different types of useful animals and pests. The lizards are not picky here and will eat both. These are therefore predators that do not endanger the plants.
pests
All insects and mollusks that can harm plants are included among pests for flower and kitchen gardens. This can be the case by feeding on the leaves or fruits, but the roots are also often affected when, for example, beetle larvae are up to mischief in the soil and feed on the roots. The lizards’ diet includes the following pests:
- Locusts (Orthoptera)
- different beetle species (Coleoptera)
- Beetle larvae (larvae of Coleoptera)
- Small Vertebrates (Vertebrates)
- Earwigs (Dermaptera)
- Caterpillars (larvae of Lepidopteran insect)
- Snails (Gastropoda)
Useful Insects
Beneficial insects include all those that either eat pests themselves or pollinate the flowers and keep the soil loose. Since one or the other beneficial insect is also part of the lizard food in gardens with many insects, this is only a natural selection and serves to balance the garden. Preferred beneficials include:
- Marienkäfer (Coccinellidae)
- Earthworms (Lumbricidae)
- Spiders (Araneae)
- Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
frequently asked Questions
In order to attract lizards to your own garden, it should be laid out as naturally as possible. Because here the animals not only find the right shelter but also the food that they prefer to eat. Such an environment without chemical agents and with lots of flowers is the preferred habitat for numerous insects. Sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) and wood lizards (Zootoca vivipara) feel particularly at home here.
The sand lizards and wood lizards already mentioned are native to the local areas. But also from other parts, especially from southern Europe and the Mediterranean areas, more and more species of lizards are also found here with us. The western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) and eastern green lizard (Lacerta viridis) live here, as well as the Croatian mountain lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi; former name: Lacerta horvathi) and the wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), which is also native to southern parts.
Yes, unfortunately there is. First of all, the biggest enemy is the domestic cat, which likes to hunt. The animals can be protected from this with thorny bushes or branches of blackberries and roses over the egg-laying places. But this protection also helps against other predators, such as owls or other birds of prey that feed on small creatures.
Lizards are cold-blooded animals, which means that when temperatures drop, they become rigid. So it’s important that they find a good, frost-free hiding place to retreat to before the cold sets in. You can help by not destroying mole or mouse passages or leaving a pile of leaves in a corner.
