Accidentally On Purpose

Inspirational song: She Chameleon (Marillion)

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce Smith Park West has become a tiny bit smaller tonight. Accidental Agnes the Adventurous Anole has passed away. I did everything I could to help her, but she was too far gone.

I noticed a few days ago that one of her eyes was swollen, but I thought it was either just a minor thing, or I was imagining it. It got worse over the weekend, when I assumed no vets were open, and I had no idea who even took tiny lizards. If I had known yesterday that the veterinary clinic at Colorado State University was a 24/7 operation, I might have driven her up there. Instead I waited until Mr S-P could catch her from the tank, and saw that it had really taken over both eyes and she looked awful, before I was able to find a vet who could see her right away. I raced down to Boulder with her, and dropped her off. They said they had her stabilized, and when I picked her up, they gave me medicine for the infection. I have to be honest, I thought she was dead when we arrived. Her color was that blue silvery shade that always indicated they were gone in Charleston when the cats would bring them inside as hunting trophies. I paid the vet $93 for the emergency visit plus the antibiotic drops, and on their recommendation, I stopped at Petsmart on the way home for an additional heater (a ceramic one), more cricket food, and some vitamin drops for lizards. And when I pulled up at the house, $150 into this odyssey, I realized she was gone. She didn’t survive the trip home.

I feel sorry for Bruno. He fell madly in love with her as soon as he caught sight of her (she hid for the first two days he was in her space, but after that, it was true love). They always slept side by side on the green mesh lizard ladder, with their tails curled around each other. For two days he has stayed right next to her, literally holding her hand, like he was comforting her. I know there isn’t a wide range of facial expressions for these little guys, but if anoles are capable of pleading or inducing guilt, he did it. Now he seems pretty freaked out to be alone. I’m going to wait several days, to make sure he doesn’t have the same infection, and to give him time to mourn, and then I will start looking for another female anole. (Like betta fish, you’re not supposed to house two males together.) I made the mistake of leaving Agnes alone for too long while she was my first lizard I kept in a tank. I won’t make Bruno suffer in isolation like she did that first year.

Back in Charleston, I buried the ones the cats would bring in the house in my plants. I’m fairly certain the orange geranium that overwintered in my dining room has two or three buried in that porcelain pot. I thought about putting her there, but it seems disrespectful to put a family member in an anonymous grave site. The Mr asked whether she’d go in the corner garden with Bump and Zoe, and that is a strong possibility. I said whatever flower we put on top of her needs to be something that grows well in Charleston, where she came from. At the same time we both thought, maybe she should go in the tea olive tree that came from there too. It seems like the most appropriate final resting place.