Such picayune problems as teachers up inarms over pensions and a highway department scandal can have anunsettling effect on a legislature. Last week, however, lawgivers ofthe sovereign state of Oklahoma laid aside these minor matters toconcentrate on a historic decision. Without a dissenting nay, theassembly decreed that the collared lizard, known as “the mountainboomer” amid the hills of Ouachita and Wichita, will henceforth bedesignated as the Sooner State’s official reptile.
Representative Lee Gate, champion of Crotaphytus collaris, introduced aprime boomer in a box to the assembly. The box fell. The lizard leaped.A fleet-footed fellow, he accomplished several laps around the chamberfloor before being collared. Despite impressive arguments by a statesenator who favored the horned toad, Crotaphytus collaris will sharehonors with mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens), the state flower; theredbud (Cercis canadensis), the state tree; and the scissor-tailedflycatcher (Muscivora forficatd), the state’s official bird. Stateofficials of Alabama, which has long been nicknamed the Lizard State,refrained from comment.