DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

The Cincinnati Lazarus Lizard is really the Common Wall Lizard, (Podarcis muralis) and ranges in most of southern Europe from Spain to Turkey (Cincinnati??). How did they ever get to Cincinnati? There are really alot of them: it is estimated that good habitat areas have as many as 1500 of these guys per acre and there are probably in excess of a million of them with in the city limits.

For decades ,no one was really sure how they first got here. In one tale, a returning WW II soldier brought them back from Europe. In another version a boy who vacationed in Switzerland kept a few as pets. Another story has the prominent Lindner family had inadvertently brought them back in potted plants that they bought overseas.

Then in 1989, the mystery was solved. George Rau was in 1951, then 10 years old, stepson of Fred Lazarus III, a well-known member of the family who founded the Lazarus chain of department stores in Ohio. During a family vacation to Lake Garda in northern Italy. Rau recalled he had managed to capture ten of the elusive little lizards and brought them back with him to Cincinnati hidden in socks in his luggage . He released them into his family's backyard in Walnut Hills area in Cincinnati and the lizards took it from there.

Now they can be found in almost all the neighborhoods in Hamilton county, especially in stone walls and garden land scraping. Apparently some of theses fellows have floated across the Ohio River and are now inhabiting northern Kentucky. They eat many harmful insects, especially mosquitoes. They seem harmless and are fun to try to catch. Just watching them is fun. They are very fast and quick. I've been trying to capture them with camera for a long time. They are now protected by the state of Ohio and nobody can harm one or keep one in captivity with out a permit.

I have finally succeeded to capture one on camera and can share their story and pictures with UHH.

I live in the northwest part of the county, about 25 miles from the Walnut Hills area where their plight began. I've been watching them for a long time. We've lived in this house for over 30 years and there were no lizards here 10 years ago. Hey tradio have any of these lizards been sighted up around Oxford? Miami campus would be a fine habitat for these guys.

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Quixdraw Loc: x

Good photos, interesting, quirky tale! Thanks!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Interesting.

sudamar Loc: Southern Indiana

Neat creatures, and great story. Thanks.

Jay Drew Loc: Boise, Id.

Hay Dave
They look a little like the lizards that I've encountered Mt. Biking in Calif. except these have much longer tails & a somewhat elongated body. They would run along on the single track ahead of me until at the last second before I was about to run over them. Then they would dart into the under story. This would annoy me because it raised my blood pressure for fear that I was actually going to run over one. This species was ubiquitous in California.

I'm originally from Columbus, Ohio. One of the things was I miss most about it was the huge multistory Lazarus Dept. store @ the corner of High St. & Town (I think). It was the best for top to bottom dollar selection. With the possible exception of the Marshal Field in the Chicago Loop, I've never found a department store that comes close, including in both San Francisco & LA. Nordstroms are good but they tend to carry only the most expensive stuff. Some of my fondest memories from the Lazarus store came from watching the model trains run at the huge layout they would build on the 6th floor every XMAS time. I haven't been back to Ohio since 1991.

tramsey Loc: Texas

If they eat mosquitoes they are to be protected. Great shots

trackmag

How big are these guys?

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

Many European animals have, over millennia, become adapted to Human urban life, most more so than New World species with shorter cohabitation with concrete and asphalt. Rats, mice, English Sparrows, and Starlings are a few examples. Somehow, I'd much rather see them on a trip to France then here in the US, where they have negative impact on our natives, such as ground-nesting birds and Bluebirds and native Sparrows. But, they are now permanent residents, added to the lists of 'weeds'. In FL, I used to watch the Mediterranean Geckos even if the didn't belong.
Those are nice shots and an interesting documentation; hope they stay urbanized. The Python situation in the Everglades is a current example of problems, but even without obvious problems, I'd rather they stayed home.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Fine shots

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

The two pictures are about 6 or 7 inches long.

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

I went to The Ohio State University and then from 1971 to 1973 I was stationed in Columbus at the U.S. Army recruiting Main Station as a photojournalist. Great gig! I am from Cincinnati and spent my last year there in the same position. We also loved the nearby Union store, a little pricey but a neat and interesting down-town store.

Jay Drew Loc: Boise, Id.

Was the Army still using Speed Graphics at that time?
Was the Union, the department store right across High St. from Lazarus? If so it didn't have a toy dept. which was my main interest until 12 yrs of age:-) After that age I continued to go to Lazarus's for clothing & gifts. I could usually find something that fit me & that I liked at a price I could afford. More so than any other department store in town.
Also I never knew the Lazarus family lived in the Cincinnati area until I read your OP. I never thought about it. I blithely assumed it was just a name chosen from the bible.

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

I remember finding a brand new Speed Graflex in our photo cabinet, we never used it. We used Pentax SLR 35mm I can't remember model numbers, we had two. WE also had a Yashica range finder too. I used on of the big news types strobs that a really heavy rechargable battery pack worn on shoulder, big old heavy duty coiled connection. We also so had an up to date modern (1972) dark room for black and white only. We were only authorized B&W, but my Co helped get around that. We always had plenty of good old TRi-X in the fridge. I didn't have it this good when I was re-stationed to Cincinnati.

Jay Drew Loc: Boise, Id.

I owned a big 'ol Strobo Research 100 Watt Second flash that had two 225 volt batterys (non-rechargeable). Gray & black (I think) semi hard case w/ a gray round flash head, & a heavy coil cord connecting them. Except for the non-rechargeable part it sounds like yours might have been the same flash unit. No?
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroboflash
Today's flashes are amazing for their size & power comparatively.
Was your palatial darkroom at Fort Hayes? I'll bet it had only yellow boxes, no red or gray ones. Kodak was king till about 2000. Amazing how fast they went down.

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

When I first arrive in Columbus the RMS was on High st. Then we moved to the brand new HUD bldg. on Main st. The RMS occupied the entire basement, it was built to our specs, we did have a light trap entrance to the dark room.. It was nice spent alot of weekends working on my own stuff, Co was Lt. Col. my boss was a GS8. When I worked at High st. we did park at Ft. Hayes and picked up our military vehicle for the day. Ft. Hayes was a Reserve HQ and soon after was bought by the Columbus Board of Education.