I see these guys a lot in the spring, on the back deck.

They change from very dark brown (almost black) to a light brown,
then change to a lime green. They seem to communicate by
twitching their heads up and down. There's a pink and white disk
that forms underneath the neck of the one sex. I'm guessing this
is a male, and about 3" long (not including tail).

The females (?) are much smaller (2" body), and don't seem to
change color, nor do they have the disk that I've noticed.

Anybody? They must be pretty common around here. I see 'em every
year.

-sw

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 13:04:19 -0600, Steve Wertz
wrote:

I see these guys a lot in the spring, on the back deck.

Carolina Anole. Nice to have around.

Rusty Mase

In article ,
Steve Wertz wrote:

I see these guys a lot in the spring, on the back deck.

They change from very dark brown (almost black) to a light brown,
then change to a lime green. They seem to communicate by
twitching their heads up and down. There's a pink and white disk
that forms underneath the neck of the one sex. I'm guessing this
is a male, and about 3" long (not including tail).

Yes, the chin flaps are called "dewlaps" and they are rose colored when
extended. That is a "challenge" thing with the males. I love to watch
them challenge me! G


The females (?) are much smaller (2" body), and don't seem to
change color, nor do they have the disk that I've noticed.

Anybody? They must be pretty common around here. I see 'em every
year.

-sw

Some people call them chameleons due to the ability to change color,
(you might watch one sometime on a stump that is a dark brown, but when
they move to foliage, they will turn green).

These are called "Anoles".

http://www.eoni.com/~neener/anoles.html

Neat lizards. :-)

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

"There are many intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats! -- Asimov

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 13:36:00 -0600, Katra
wrote:

Some people call them chameleons due to the ability to change color,
(you might watch one sometime on a stump that is a dark brown, but when
they move to foliage, they will turn green).

Chameleons are butt ugly. There are much prettier ;-)

These are called "Anoles".

http://www.eoni.com/~neener/anoles.html

Neat lizards. :-)

Yeah, that's them. Here's another site I found that mentions they
dump their tail when grabbed. A good defense from cats at least.
My cat came home with one of these tails in his mouth one time, it
was still squirming - it was pretty spooky. Now I know where it
came from.

http://www.wildtexas.com/wildguides/anole.php

Thanks Rusty and Kathy (I'm on a slow dialup so I didn't want to
have to go searching through a zillion photos on the net)

-sw

In article ,
Steve Wertz wrote:

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 13:36:00 -0600, Katra
wrote:

Some people call them chameleons due to the ability to change color,
(you might watch one sometime on a stump that is a dark brown, but when
they move to foliage, they will turn green).

Chameleons are butt ugly. There are much prettier ;-)

grins So ugly they are cute...

Yes, Anoles are pretty. So are skinks!


These are called "Anoles".

http://www.eoni.com/~neener/anoles.html

Neat lizards. :-)

Yeah, that's them. Here's another site I found that mentions they
dump their tail when grabbed. A good defense from cats at least.
My cat came home with one of these tails in his mouth one time, it
was still squirming - it was pretty spooky. Now I know where it
came from.

Yeah, most "true lizards" can and will dump their tails, even legless
lizards. Geckos do that too. Seen many a wriggling gecko tail in the
house. sigh It does let them get away from the cats!

The tails grow back over time. Scientists have studied lizard tail
regeneration for possible limb regrowth for years, and still don't
really understand how it works.


http://www.wildtexas.com/wildguides/anole.php

Thanks Rusty and Kathy (I'm on a slow dialup so I didn't want to
have to go searching through a zillion photos on the net)

-sw

You are most welcome! But, how did you discover my RL nickname?
I don't use it on the 'net! ;-o

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

"There are many intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats! -- Asimov

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 01:02:16 -0600, Katra
wrote:

You are most welcome! But, how did you discover my RL nickname?
I don't use it on the 'net! ;-o

You used to post under the name Kathy, Katherine ;-)

-sw

Xref: 127.0.0.1 austin.gardening:23691

In article ,
Steve Wertz wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 01:02:16 -0600, Katra
wrote:

You are most welcome! But, how did you discover my RL nickname?
I don't use it on the 'net! ;-o

You used to post under the name Kathy, Katherine ;-)

-sw

That was over 8 years ago?????? 1996? I've used Katra for ages.

Now if anyone gets anything off of ebay sales, they get my real name,
Kathleen. :-)

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

"There are many intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats! -- Asimov

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

As everyone else has said, these are anoles. I have them teaming in my gardens.
They are very sensitive to any type of pesticide, so please try not to use
them. These lizards (anoles) and others like fence lizards eat insects, and
best of all, grasshoppers. All lizards are the best pesticide to have around.



On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 13:04:19 -0600, Steve Wertz
opined:

I see these guys a lot in the spring, on the back deck.

They change from very dark brown (almost black) to a light brown,
then change to a lime green. They seem to communicate by
twitching their heads up and down. There's a pink and white disk
that forms underneath the neck of the one sex. I'm guessing this
is a male, and about 3" long (not including tail).

The females (?) are much smaller (2" body), and don't seem to
change color, nor do they have the disk that I've noticed.

Anybody? They must be pretty common around here. I see 'em every
year.

-sw