The Ecovillage has now completed forming a legal entity. We
incorporated as a company. Even though we liked the philosophy behind
being a co-op it turned out that the corporate structure was a lot more
flexible and allowed us to set things up how we wanted them. We spent
countless hours over the years thinking through our governance
structure and share structure. It feels wonderful to have it finished
– it just grounds the whole project more deeply.
Several stewards are spending most of August at the Ecovillage reveling
in a BC summer. Having people staying on the land for an extended time
really helps move projects forward and let's us learn more about this
beautiful piece of land.
The Lightwork Ecovillage is home to many Northwestern Alligator Lizards. They are much loved by the Ecovillagers. Although an alligator can reach up to 6 feet in length the Northwestern Alligator Lizards reaches a maximum length of 20 cm.
This particular Northwestern Alligator Lizards has found it's hibernaculum (the location an animal chooses for hibernation) in the rock foundation of the cob building. The rock foundation provides heat and it is essential they spend time basking in the sun for the warm.
Here it is hunting it's next meal, a spider.
Northwestern Alligator Lizards hunt insects such as beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, snails, and millipedes.
Although not caught on camera the lizard successfully caught and ate the spider it was hunting.
Alligator Lizards are usually very private; their first defense is to flee and hide. If caught, a lizard may bite, or even ‘release’ its tail. The dropped tail acts as a decoy, distracting the potential predator. Over time, the lizard will regenerate a shorter, fatter tail. This particular lizard is getting use to the activity all the humans bring to the cob building construction site and is regularly seen basking in the sun in front of the building.
