TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The Tehachapi area is like a large richly-illustrated book that no one has ever read completely. Most people are only familiar with the cover and a few of the chapters. I have spent decades reading and researching this fascinating volume and there are still hundreds of pages I have yet to read. One little-known chapter concerns the lizards found in the Tehachapi area, including the unusual and endearing Desert Banded Gecko.

These interesting reptiles are found in rocky canyons and desert washes on the eastern side of the Tehachapis, including areas like Cache Creek, Sand Canyon, Pine Tree Canyon and others.

Geckos are a group of lizards that have very fine scales which gives their skin a soft feel and appearance. They are the most vocal lizards and their family name itself comes from the "geh-oh" sound made by the large Asian Tokay Gecko.

Our little Desert Banded Geckos (Coleonyx variegatus variegatus) are the only lizards in our area that have any voice at all and they will sometimes chirp when captured.

While many species of tropical geckos have enlarged toe pads with suction cups that allow them to walk up walls and even on ceilings, Desert Banded Geckos spend most of their time at ground level and lack these pads.

Adult Banded Geckos vary in size from four to six inches and are pale yellowish with dark crossbands on their back and sides. They have a beautiful greenish area on the top of their head between their eyes and occasional green undertones visible on their body.

Staying almost entirely nocturnal to avoid both predators and desert heat, Banded Geckos have vertically elliptical pupils, which gives them a crocodilian appearance. Diurnal geckos that are active in daylight hours have round pupils. Most geckos have no eyelids, but Banded Geckos do, which is probably an adaptation to protect their eyes in their sandy environment.

Banded Geckos eat spiders and insects that they encounter while moving stealthily over the sand, their tails often twitching like a stalking cat. Like other lizards, geckos can lose their tails to predators and regrow them.

Geckos have a low reproductive rate and only lay two eggs at a time, though a female may produce up to three clutches in a year.

Like tiny subtle dragons, Desert Banded Geckos patrol sandy dry creek beds in search of their prey, unseen and unnoticed by human residents of the area -- their life history forming another intriguing page in the epic Book of Tehachapi.

Have a good week.

This article was originally published in The Tehachapi News, a sister publication of The Bakersfield Californian. Jon Hammond is a nature columnist in Tehachapi. You can reach him at jhammond@tehachapinews.com