Lizards are abundant in La Yacata, probably due to the fact that it is desert-like most of the year. Lizards, I have discovered, are not to be feared, although they do startle one at times, especially when answering the call of nature in the great outdoors. Their movements resemble that of snakes, which are to be feared.
My mother-in-law used to insist that lizards are dangerous and have been known to crawl up inside of women while they are sleeping. I’m not sure how true this is, however, just to be on the safe side, I, at least, will be wearing underwear wherever there is a plethora of lizards crawling about.
No desert is complete without snakes. One day, just arriving home from school, I heard quite a commotion outside with the chickens, and went to investigate. Suddenly, I heard hissing amidst the frantic clucking and lo and behold, a long, silver snake was trying to get at some eggs the hens had laid outside the fence. Apparently, it was one of the poisonous types, although I did not get close enough for positive identification. My husband snatched up a garden rake and machete and did some fancy dancing before finally trapping its head in the rake rungs and chopping it off. The icy cold adrenaline rush from close encounters with one of these is not pleasant.
I know that snakes keep down rodent and other small annoying mammal population, but once it has crossed into our yard, actually gone through the gate, there is no mercy shown. Snakes can crawl through chicken wired gates. Use the smallest mesh available. And in a land that is not your own, all snakes are subject to mistrust.
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Surviving Mexico 