Habits
Generally found in firm ground rather than pure sand dunes, the spiny-tailed lizard is often found living in colonies, sometimes on the outskirts of villages. It prefers elevated patches of land especially in Kutch where it is invariably found on isolated patches of high ground (called Bets) above the monsoon water level.
Birds of prey are a major predator of the lizard in the desert. The Saker Falcon Falco cherrug has been recorded in literature but the Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax and other falcons such as the Laggar Falcon also prey on these lizards. The Cattle Egret has also been known to prey on it.
Read more about this topic: Uromastyx Hardwickii
Famous quotes containing the word habits:
“Varis Shah says habits don’t die even if we are cut into pieces.”
—Varis Shah (18th cent.)
“Although a firm swat could bring a recalcitrant child swiftly into line, the changes were usually external, lasting only as long as the swatter remained in view....Permanent transformation had to be internal....The habits of self discipline, as laborious and frustrating as they were to achieve, offered the only real possibility of keeping children safe from their own excesses as well as the omnipresent dangers of society.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)