Eastern Collared Lizard
Crotaphytus collaris collaris

Washington Co., Missouri, Spring 1976.
 

As a boy in Missouri, Paul Anderson's Reptiles of Missouri was one of the few books available to me in the school library, and I spent many hours poring over it.  One of the most intriguing species listed was the Eastern Collared Lizard, with an isolated population about eighty miles away from my home.  I eventually visited the area, thanks to Don Keutzer, my high school science teacher, and we were able to examine several of these lizards.  How does one capture a Collared Lizard?  You have to get them early in the cool morning, while they are still sleeping under flat rocks.  Once they are warmed up and active, you have no chance of getting close to one!

At left is a Kansas specimen of collaris.