The Garden Lizard, a Disappearing Friend

The garden lizards Calotes are no longer common in urban gardens. I found this female one in a weedy part of my school garden. These lizards are friends of the gardener as they eat a lot of the insect pests. The male Calotes becomes a bright red during the mating season. It was common to see them doing their 'push ups' to attract the females, on stones and rocks, but now they are nowhere to be seen.