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Name This Animal

Do you know these lizards?

20 years ago

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Comments (8)

jankey
Original Author
20 years ago
We have a bunch of lizards in the yard, but these two are so different with the curly tail and red head.
Day_By_Day
20 years ago
Cuban anoles, the scourge of Florida. :(
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judijune, be careful with all those snakes! We get some venomous snakes too. My scariest situation was maybe 5 yrs sgo at my old farm when our Lab had cornered a huge Timber Rattlesnake out by the chicken coop. It was all coiled up rattlling its tail -holding its black rattler up high. It had a different sound than other snakes and from a distance without contacts/glasses on, I thought it was a black hornets nest lol! The dog was barking its foolish head off in that snakes face! Im shocked it didnt bite her..or me! I was at a loss of what to do because the dog would not back off, so finally I walked around the coop and up behind her and grabbed her tail pulling her backwards, away from the snake, until i could get hold of her collar and back up towards the house. That snake took off into the woods quick. I later learned that although massive and one of the most venomous rattelesnakes, The Timber rattler is not aggressive and will sometimes even play dead rather than strike. Good thing lol. I dread seeing another one. Diane, I Love those goat photos and their guardian dog! Its a smart thing getting the goats out there to keep the wildfire risk down. The silly photo: We had just got a new overgrown pasture section ready for the goats, a few days ago. We let them out, into it for the first time and they were all going nuts running around tasting everything. Some goats were rubbing their heads on the tall weeds like a scratching post lol. Somehow, this little guy got a big weed stuck on his head. Then he went up to the girls and they would try to eat the weed, then would run and they would all chase him trying to eat the weed. He tried it with the older female goats and they were not impressed and would butt him. They kept us laughing with their goofy antics!
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TY! I knew the green ones can be brown sometimes but wasn't sure about the other way 'round. The stripe is very distinct. So do you think this was an attempt at amorous activities? I've not seen the 'raised hackles' or deepened eye sockets during such before, but have only caught that activity in person twice (when there was no question what they were doing.) You can see how into their fight they were, (or foreplay, if that's the case.) I was so close to get those pics. Took this pic 9/21, can't remember if I've showed it to you elsewhere or not. I think it had just hatched. It had grit all over it & is officially the smallest one I've seen. It was cool to the touch so I assumed that's why it was brown. Maybe it's an invader. I didn't see a stripe, but wasn't looking.
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jankey
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks for the info, but why do you say they are the scourge of Florida ... if they eat bugs they're good guys. Our other lizards don't have curly tails or redheads. I do have a big one that's guardin my garden.
Day_By_Day
20 years ago
They're a scourge because they're a non native species that was imported from Cuba. They, like their other scourge friends, the Cuban treefrogs, out-reproduce our native American anoles and Green treefrogs, eat what the native species are supposed to eat, drive our species further into the trees where they're easier prey to birds, and in the case of the Cuban treefrogs, have a toxic skin secretion which promotes their longevity, and they're now the largest treefrog in the US, having spread up into Georgia, and have no second thoughts about eating anything they can fit in their mouths, including native treefrog populations! Whew, don't get me started. LOL. On another note, physical differences can be due to interbreeding or just associated with mating/defensive responses. Other scourges, Bahaman curlytail, Haitian curlytail, etc.
jankey
Original Author
20 years ago
I can understand - especially your first sentence - we have a bunch of those!
Day_By_Day
20 years ago
PS. Male Cuban anoles, larger, have dewlap, dark criss cross pattern on back, assert dominance. Female, smaller, red head, lighter with white line down back. Mostly occupying ground to 10 feet off the ground. Ground, bushes, trees. Able to climb verticle, even glass. Oddly enough, now that I think back to when I first moved to Florida, the first stop I made was to a clothing store to buy some shorts. Inside the store, this woman jumped back and this lizard scurried along the floor. I picked it up and across the street was a pet shop, so I took it over there to ask about it. They looked at me like I was crazy and said "Oh, that's just a Cuban. We've prolly got 20 of em in our store runnin' wild right now." I felt so dumb and later came to learn that they're as common as air in Florida. LOL
chuckr30
20 years ago
The wild green anoles I saw in Florida while on vacation never let me get closer than 5 feet to them before they would scurry off. The one you picked up must be used to people.
jankey
Original Author
20 years ago
We can't pick these up either, but we quietly talk to them and can get within inches.

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