Debbie was tending to the front flowerbeds yesterday and called me to bring the camera. Here’s what she spotted on a photinia.
It’s a green anole, a lizard that is found throughout the warmer climes of the US, but only infrequently spotted in our neck of the woods. They eat spiders, cockroaches and crickets, so they’re quite welcome in our neighborhood.
Here are a couple more photos:
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Did you have to go look up in a book to see what it was or did you know? I think I would have jumped when I saw it.
I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but I did google “anole” just to confirm the identity.
He’s just a small little guy; I don’t think he would have scared you.
I forget…don’t have to go to a book to look things up!
Ah, my favorite little lizard. When I lived on Galveston Bay, several anoles lived in/on the potted plants on my deck and I loved playing peek-a-boo with them. You could tell there were several nearby when a male started puffing out his pretty-in-pink throat. Of course, the darling anole is slightly less enchanting when it runs across your bare foot while you are sitting on the porcelain throne at 3am …
I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the throat-puffing behavior; Debbie saw it several times before I got there.
I know the feeling of being surprised by lizards in the house, though, as geckos and scorpions look surprisingly similar when encountered unexpectedly in the middle of the night.
—only infrequently spotted in our neck of the woods—
I’ll have to check with Burr on that one. I have them all around my house. Sometimes in too…..
Wallace, I was specifically referring to our neighborhood. I think it will take a while for species like this to get a good foothold, but I’m not surprised that your more established neighborhood has them. I have yet to see a gecko out here, but we had a big flock at our old place.
Same goes for squirrels. We have none out here right now, but that will inevitably change.