They’re spiky and small. They’ll do push-ups on your backyard wall.
Lizards can be found in just about every nook and cranny in Tucson. Now, locals have the chance to share their pictures and videos of the scaly creatures on Tucson’s newest Instagram account: Tucson Daily Lizard.
The account is run by Steven Santillan, a local lifelong lizard enthusiast and project manager for a solar company, and his girlfriend, Val Timin, co-founder of local zero-waste shop Cero.
“I'm hoping that the Instagram thing will be like a collaboration with other people seeing lizards too,” Santillan said. “There's obviously a handful you see all the time in town. But as you go outskirts, there's so many more that we don't see that often.”
Initially, Tucson Daily Lizard started as a Facebook page in 2015. Santillan’s friend Wes had the idea to launch the Facebook page, but eventually handed the reigns over to Santillan. The page was eventually merged with the Tucson Herpetological Society group.
Once the Facebook group began to dwindle, Timin thought it would be a good idea to revive the concept on Instagram. She created the page a couple weeks ago and has since gained almost 100 followers.
“With Instagram being a more photo and video platform, and people, especially in our age range, maybe being on there a little bit more than on Facebook groups, we could just make it a bigger, more happening public thing,” Timin said. “And so far, so good. It seems like people are having fun with it.”
But why continue with lizards out of the many Sonoran Desert creatures?
“They’re fun to watch,” the couple agreed.
To submit a photo or video to the Tucson Daily Lizard, locals can tag their account, hashtag #tucsondailylizard or send them a direct message on Instagram.
So far, some of the photos submitted or taken by the Tucson Daily Lizard team have included desert spiny lizards and whiptails. But Timin and Santillan would like to see more uncommon lizards appear on the page.
“If we can get the location that’s great, we are trying to include that in every post, and then either they can ID the lizard or we can also help out with an ID,” Timin said. “We have a book on lizards and it's kind of fun to see who lives where and how to ID them.”
The Tucson Daily Lizard team also encourages locals to respect lizards and handle them properly when exploring nature or taking photos of the spiky creatures.
“You don't want to stress them out, overhandle them,” Timin said. “Perhaps, limit handling them only to when you actually have to rescue them from a place of pain or danger. And I've also learned that you're not supposed to handle them when you have lotions and things on your hand because that can absorb through their skin. So, yeah, we encourage people to study up through resources like the Tucson Herpetological Society or other herpetological books. And just be safe and enjoy. And be curious.”
Eventually, Tucson Daily Lizard would like to expand its reach in the community through lizard-spotting outings, other social media sites like TikTok, and even its own merch like lizard-themed T-shirts.
“(The page) is the hottest lizard content in all of Tucson,” Santillan said. “(We hope people will) celebrate and appreciate the lizards in Tucson.”
For more information about the Tucson Daily Lizard or to submit a photo, visit Tucson Daily Lizard’s Instagram page.
Todd Martin calls his visitor Lenny the Lizard. He is fed meal worms when he visits. Lenny's companion, Elizardbeth, is a bit shy and hasn't approached for food. Video by Todd Martin.
