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pamelainfl

Have you seen a lizard like this?

pamelainfl
16 years ago

I've been seeing a lot of red-headed lizards but yesterday this solid red lizard was in my yard. This morning he was out there again so I ran in to grab my camera and thank goodness he was still sitting there when I came back out to take his photo. Has anyone ever seen a solid red lizard before. I'm a Floridian and have never seen one before. I hope he sticks around.

{{gwi:957112}}

Comments (26)

  • cindeea
    16 years ago

    WOW he's cool. I've never seen one like it! Haven't seen any red-headed ones either. Nice photo, Pam.

  • SaintPFLA
    16 years ago

    It is an interesting photo of what is probably a new 'interloper' to the area. I read online the other day that all our cool cuban anoles have all but wiped out Florida's native green anole. The brown and black anoles eat the baby green anoles and also eat all of their food and take over their habitat. They were thought to have come to Florida 50 years ago and now that's pretty much all you see. I've never seen a green anole myself.

    The cuban anoles came here like most exoctic species do-- hiding in something, probably plant material.

    My guess is that red lizard is another species that has been introduced and is on the move. You may want to read up on it to make sure it's not poisonous, etc.

    Either that -- or it's some type of natural phenominon -- like a albino.

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  • mboston_gw
    16 years ago

    He's pretty!

    A couple years ago, I saw one or two green ones in our yard, they would hang around the drainspouts of the house. One of them we named Mr. Greenie. He was so thin that I ended up buying crickets at the pet store and DH rigged a dowel with a pin on the end and we would feed him. He would coming running when he saw me. He fought for his territory with the brown ones and had scars from it. I haven't seen him for a long time but he must have found a mate somewhere cause we now have green babies in our shrubs and bushes. I have another that has taken over Mr. Greenies old territory. At least I know that they are making a comeback here at our house. I just love them. They move so differently than the brown ones and always look so pensive at me.

    Here is Mr. Greenie changing colors:

    Another green beauty:

  • dghays
    16 years ago

    I still see the green with regularity, but not near as much as the brown ones.

    Gary

  • katkin_gw
    16 years ago

    Since I started killing the Cuban tree frogs I have seen lots of green ones. Before that I never did, just the brown. Correction, making Ralph kill the Cuban tree frogs. lol

  • manature
    16 years ago

    I still believe that we can change the world, one backyard at a time. I know I'm a cockeyed optimist, but until someone tells me that the LAST Carolina anoles (the green ones) and the last green treefrogs have died, I'm going to eliminate every Cuban treefrog I see.

    I've about given up on the brown anoles. There are literally thousands, and I can't fight them. HOWEVER, on a positive side, there is SOME evidence that the green anoles are establishing new territories at a different level from the brown ones and are still hanging in there. I have some in my yard, but nothing like the number of brown ones I have.

    If you have been seeing red-headed lizards, pamelainfl, they may have been skinks in breeding mode. Males get that beautiful red head to attract the females.

    If you have been seeing "regular" lizards (not the shiny, wiggly skinks) with red heads, I don't know what the heck they are. I don't know what this all over red one is, either. Maybe there is a red-headed lizard moving in, and maybe it turns red all over when it is in breeding mode? I haven't a clue, but will be very interested in any info anyone else has.

    Marcia

  • wanda662
    16 years ago

    I so miss our green camelions, or that is what I've only known them as!
    As to the picture, I have no idea? Maybe take it into the Ag. center?
    Nice Photo though!

  • ventura43
    16 years ago

    There is a lizard that has a red head and a tannish colored body that can get redder during mating season. It's called a broad headed lizard. We had one last year but it looked larger & heavier than the one in your picture. Yours looks like an anole.

    What is a cuban tree frog? I'm in NE FL and I don't know if I've seen one of those.

  • islandpete
    16 years ago

    Your red head lizard just might be a tropical Gecko! And no he doesn't sell car insurance, but does love to sun in the garden

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Ventura, the lizard you are talking about is probably the broad-headed skink. I don't think the red lizard above is a skink. I also don't think it looks like any gecko I've ever seen. For one thing, geckos are normally nocturnal. They take over at night, after the anoles have gone to sleep.

    I don't know what this red lizard is, but I'm fairly sure of what it's not. It sure will be interesting to find out if it is a different species, or just a strangely colored brown anole.

    Ventura, check out the thread on killing Cuban Treefrogs, and you will see photos of them, and learn more than you probably ever wanted to know! ;o)

    Marcia

  • bihai
    16 years ago

    We still have tons of the green anoles up here in the North part of the state. The Brown ones haven't made it up here in great numbers yet

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Oooh, bihai! I so envy you. Makes me want to come up there and catch some to reintroduce to my garden!

    Wanda, I was raised calling the green anoles chameleons, too. It was because they can change color. But they aren't actually related to chameleons at all. Their true name is Carolina anole, but around here, we often just refer to them as "the green ones."

    Marcia

  • SaintPFLA
    16 years ago

    Here's an informative link below.

    http://www.southalley.com/lizards.html

    You guys are lucky that you have some green lizards in your yards. They are nothing but a part of Florida history here.

    Mboston: I like to think that you helped preserve that lizard's hold on it's territory and survival for the future.

    And, you guys are not neccessarily wrong with the chameleon name - they are actually called the American Chameleon or Carolina Anole - although it's apparently a sub-species of the anoles found in the Carolinas.

    Here's another link with great pics:

    http://www.wildherps.com/species/A.carolinensis.html

  • manature
    16 years ago

    From what I have found online, it would appear that your red lizard is just a color variant of the Cuban brown anole. They are apparently seen in that color from time to time, and also in a nearly black coloration.

    I was really hoping it was something different, but it doesn't seem so. Sure is a pretty color, though. None of MY brown anoles look like that!

    Marcia

  • an_ill-mannered_ache
    16 years ago

    my wife caught this blue-tailed beauty on (digital) film this afternoon...

    so, my question. consulting the usual sources, i can id this as either a blue-tailed skink, or a five-lined skink... what's the difference? or are they aliases?

  • SaintPFLA
    16 years ago

    See....that is exactly why I love Florida. You can't find stuff like this in Seatttle!

    Amazing!

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Ill, that appears to me to be an eastern five lined skink. He's beautiful, too! Great photo!
    Marcia

  • garyfla_gw
    16 years ago

    Hi
    Recently had one of these appeaar in the aviary..Have no idea what they are but have never noticed them before.
    I put fruit out for the birds and immediately get a crowd of lizards lol. How they get inside is still a mystery to me , have 1/4 inch hardware cloth,yet they seem to come and go as if it wasn't there.lol
    I'm not sure how to tell the lizard families apart but Chameleons are native only to Africa.
    About two years ago i started maintaining the shadehouse like a rainforsest with heavy water every 3 days and I accidently set up a lizard factory lol. There are thousands of them in there now lol, Yet I still manage to have bugs and mosquitoes sigh garyt

  • katkin_gw
    16 years ago

    And I have George and his family, a knight anole. Big,and beautiful lime green. But I just did some reading and found when they reach maturity they can eat baby birds. So now I am thinking about a way to trap him. My bichon is a fiesty little guy, though he looks like a powder puff and I don't want a problem. He just killed another mole yesterday.

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Ill, I forgot to answer your question. The only skink I can find correctly called "blue-tailed" is the blue-tailed mole skink. The one in your picture is actually a Southeastern five-lined skink, and the blue tail indicates it is a juvenile. They are closely related, but the mole skink is smaller and apparently spends more time burrowing underground.

    Your wife took a truly beautiful picture of this southeastern five-lined skink. Nice!

    Marcia

  • thepondprincess
    16 years ago

    Let loose the hounds!!! I have two 8-month old Silken Windhounds and they LOVE lizard hunting/pawing. I rarely see the good green lizards around here, but we've got plenty of those ugly, aggressive brown ones and they don't have much of a chance around our boys. Fortunately, Ti' Amo and 'Deo are humble since they don't present their dead catch to me...what a relief...well, ok...Ti' Amo did once...ewwwww!
    Carol

  • mboston_gw
    16 years ago

    Our Andi girl is a great brown anole catcher. I don't like that she catches them but I do make sure the greenies are up high enough each time I let her out. At least the ones that tend to climb on the pool screen. They get on the bushes and are totally safe as they blend in so well.

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Pondprincess, what are silken windhounds? I watch AKC and other dog shows all the time, just for fun, and I've never seen that breed listed? Is it a new breed? (From a purely descriptive standpoint, it sounds like it would apply to Afghan hounds.) Just curious!

    Oh, and my short-legged sausage hound (alias a dachshund) is really good at catching them, too. I always try to rescue them, but usually I'm too late. He stuns or kills them by stomping them with his front legs stiff as a board, then he grabs them up and runs off with them. I don't like it, but he's faster than I am.

    Marcia

  • manature
    16 years ago

    Pondprincess, I looked up silky windhounds online, and I must say, they are a GORGEOUS breed. Like small borzois! I love sighthounds, anyway, though I don't have room for anything but my little dachsie. But the windhounds are just fantastic. Hope you'll share pictures of your dogs, in your garden!

    Marcia

  • Yerbero51
    10 years ago

    as child I grew up in Cuba in an area near the coast , lots of threes in our back yard, I had so many of this lizards along with others, I can't claim is from Cuba, but for sure I have yet to see one in Florida, I would suggest, go to a Cuban website, under "Flora Cubana" it would tell you about of the species that are from there. Cuba does have many diferent species of animal, that are only found there, like the cuban cocodrile, the smallest bird, Zun Zun like a huminbird, smallest frog, and more. One of my favoritye videos on enviroment is from PBS library "Cuba, eden by accident" it is very stonning what our horrible enemy (according to some) is doing way better than us, and lots of other countries to protect the enviroment, air , water, plants and animals

  • katzsnider
    10 years ago

    I thought these were called Skinks, or Skanks, or something like that. I've seen them fight each other and I heard they are poisonous, especially to our beloved pets!