I’ve become complacent living with lizards.
When I was a young girl, I would’ve found that concept unbelievable. But strolling into a living terrarium (my own backyard) has become part of daily life.
When the weather starts to turn a bit cooler and the reptiles haven’t huddled yet into their secret winter dens, I have to be careful where I put my feet. A sleepy anole (the local day Florida lizards) might be catching a cozy nap on the warm sidewalk.
For me that’s a real bonus, the only time I can actually pick one up! I get to play the giant lizard Samaritan, gently moving her small charge to safer ground.
A couple of days ago I was looking through one of my animal encyclopedias (I have four sets) and came across a really fabulous article about anoles. For one thing, I discovered they are in the iguana family, and there are 165 species in their particular genus, ¼ of the total number of species in the iguana family of lizards.
I don’t know how many species are in my own little backyard, but I have seen some with pretty impressive head crests, some with racing stripes down their back and some that are more spotted than striped.
These little guys are also talented climbers, their toes have claws and adhesive pads that keep them safely aloft as they scale walls and palm trees. A frequent activity from my observation.
The males have a throat sack that they can expand- the ones I’ve seen have a bright red orange one that they proudly display.
The anoles are a New World lizard, ranging from Brazil at their southernmost range and North Carolina at the other end. They are mostly arboreal (living in trees), but mine seem to take advantage of many different environments. Right now I’m looking out the studio window at an attractive brown version with a bright yellow stripe down his back resting on a palmetto shrub.
I even have one (or possibly a whole family!) living in a bird house.
They eat fruit and insects. I’ve seen them pack away the bugs, but I don’t know if they go for anything as small and swift as a mosquito. I wouldn’t mind lowering the mosquito population in my vicinity!
I think their biggest local enemy has to be the house cat. I don’t have a cat myself, but the local felines have made my yard their hangout, and “my” lizards their primary form of entertainment.
Apparently anoles lay what must be very tiny eggs in the ground, the female making a little hole with her snout. I’ve not come across any lizard eggs, but I have seen my share of newly hatched babies which are quite tiny and very fast. And, of course, cute – like all babies.
I’m sure the environment we provide for them at the Magic Zoo is deeply appreciated. Our lawn seems to go unmowed for weeks on end and we don’t use chemical pesticides. What better life for a lizard? (Except for the cats, of course)
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