The escape tactics and the vulnerability to predation of reproducing and non-reproducing common lizards, (L. vivipara), were studied. Observations on the escape behavior of lizards in a field population indicated that gravid females allow a human predator to approach closer and that they flee less far than their non-reproducing conspecifics. This confirms the prediction, based on the graphical model of Vitt and Congdon (1978), that during pregnancy female L. vivipara should shift their escape tactics toward a longer application of crypsis. Gravid females are hampered in locomotion by the weight of the clutch and hence are probably poorly efficient in escaping predation by running speed. The capture rates of males and gravid females were not different but an inexperienced observer captured males more frequently than females. These data together with information on the diet of a natural predator and on the mortality rates of adult lizards, suggest that females are not highly vulnerable to predation during pregnancy. Current information in the literature does not seem to show that reproducing lizards suffer high predation rates. The observed shift in escape behavior of reproducing L. vivipara is considered as adaptive with regard to their high relative clutch mass and their live-bearing habits.