The annual baby lizard hunt 🤦🏻‍♀️😢

[danteshuman]

So I live in the hills of Southern California and we have alligator lizards (which I love!) The problem is my cat wants to catch/play to death the baby lizards. Last year I rescued 4?6? Baby lizards from his mouth! I watch him and try to prevent him catching them but I can’t prevent them all. Today he tried to catch his first baby lizard (I pulled him inside for 40 minutes until he calmed/reset.) He is clever, high prey drive but luckily a bottle baby with bad hunting skills. They are attracted to the big pots (maybe water/moisture under them?)

So what can I do to give them a cat safe hiding spot with at least 2 exits? Would the baby lizards like meal worms, baby crickets or frozen blood worms better? I would prefer tofeed them and keep them overnight for cat free TLC before I release them (away from my pots and with a 2 hour head start.) I added these 1foot tall flower bed fence thingies between the big pots last year & gave them a paper towel tube. The tube rolls. Any ideas and help would be appreciated!

Pictures of my patio and my furry serial killer:

 

[game misconduct]

wood/brick/rock piles ,low thick brush overgrown grass /weeds etc.baby crickets would be easiest for em to eat but they probably wont eat on an overnight stay add in the fright of getting caught by kitty along with probably losing its tail they hang around the pots cause its warmer in those spots(black pots will soak the morning sun heat up with plenty of tiny bugs and source of water would be my guess. only way you could help the baby gator lizards is offer them places to hide by the pots but that will create a mess around that area in the pictures and its not really fair to the cat to deny his instincts to hunt etc. your probably stuck on lizard rescue until next winter

 

[danteshuman]

I will try the brick method. He catches them while and they have their tail. I put them in warm pedialite (below their neck)

 

[danteshuman]

I put them in warm unflavored pedialite (below their neck) for 10-15 minutes, rinse em off, leave them in the bathroom with the heat lamps on until they dry, then release them (with my cat locked inside.) I try to give them their best chance of surviving.

Jackie has mastered holding the 2 inch lizards very gently in his mouth so he can release them to catch again.

 

[fionasmom]

Fiona herself was a chubby little orange and white kitty who was also a steel eyed killer of lizards. When she passed on, their population increased greatly, which was one consolation. As she got older, she lost the ability to jump any height of importance, so was able to go out in the back yard with me nearby...which only made it worse for the lizard population. You are kind to try to help them. Fiona herself never went in for the catch and release style of hunting, although I took them away from her as quickly as I could. Some did survive if I got there in time.

 

[danteshuman]

Since I live in an apartment I don’t really have a yard but this is “his” space. The bigger lizards stopped coming to “his” section after the first year he was here. Since the porch is in the back I only have to share with one neighbor. So Jackie gets more freedom. Yes the fern has turned into a monster fern!