Escaping

There are several other possibilities to make the garden “proof against escaping”. It can be done with a low fence or a low wall (it could even be lower than one meter). Instead of glass panels any other smooth material, such as plastic sheeting for ponds, plastic corrugated sheets or PVC, is suitable. A fellow keeper of lizards has had all kinds of European lizards in his garden behind such a low wall for dozens of years. Be aware of escape routes through windows, gutters, the shed door, etc. Regular checks of the closures and overgrowing branches are necessary! Wooden fence parts could go askew when ivy or other strongly rooting plants grow on them. Lizards also like to climb in shrubs; in my garden I often find them in the Wisteria, in the Pyracantha and on a 2,5 meter high pergola

In my experience there are two kinds of lizards: those that try to escape and those that DON’T. That sounds odd, but I shall give two examples. My garden is 138 square meters and is populated by one male and five female green lizards. An adult female that was put in the group later, escaped twice. After removing this sixth female not a lizard has escaped ever again. A similar event took place with a second Podarcis sicula male. This animal too tried its very best to escape from the garden. (A garden is still too small for two male lizards).
When I release young lizards in the garden, it usually goes well. They start at the bottom of the hierarchy and fight themselves up over a couple of years. The older adult females step down after a few fights.

So, when the garden offers enough places to sun, places to hide, food, egg laying places and places to hibernate, there seems to be no urge to escape. I nearly overlooked a second escape possibility: the animals just as easily wander into the kitchen or the living room when the door to the garden is open. So remember: close the screen doors!