DID YOU KNOW ?

• Over 99 species of lizard live in New Zealand. 33 of our skinks aren’t found anywhere else in the world.

• Geckos and skinks are two types of lizard. They are easy to tell apart as skinks have sleek bodies whereas geckos have velvety skin. Geckos are unique in that they don’t have eyelids but instead lick their eyeballs, which have clear membranes to protect them. • Skinks are slimmer than geckos.

They have narrow heads and small eyes, a narrow neck, which is nearly as wide as the head, and smooth, shiny, fish-like scales on the surface of the skin.

• Lizards like to squeeze into bodysized holes no more than 5-19mm wide. They like plenty of holes because many lizards are territorial so they need their

own space. They like their homes to stay in one place too. If it’s disturbed, they’ll move out and they might not have anywhere else to go. • Lizards help scatter the seeds of some of our native plants and may also pollinate their flowers.

• Lizards need a balanced diet of fruit, nectar and insects. Plant low-lying shrubs that supply tasty morsels for your guests. Berry- or nectarproducing plants are good, especially native divaricating shrubs. If you have a range of plants there’ll be plenty to eat, all year round. Coprosma species and kawakawa provide fruit while flax, manuka and rata give nectar. Ferns, grasses and rengarenga provide cover and attract insects for lizards to eat.