So, I live in central Florida. This means there will be a multitude of lizards around. Folks generally refer to them as geckos, but I’m pretty sure the ones that one sees most often are some sort of anole (I’m not certain of that - mostly just going by internet pictures).
Now, my patio is Grand Central Station for these guys, largely due to the gigantic plant (mother-in-law plant? Think so, but not sure…) that is just outside. Some people would probably be against having such a vibrant lizard colony so close by, but I find them highly entertaining to watch. My only issue is when they get inside - not that I particularly mind having them in there, but chances are they won’t find their way out again, and I will be forced to dispose of their corpse later.
(I did once make extenuating efforts to convey one safely outside, only to have one of the neighborhood cats pounce on it 15 feet later).
Anyway, today I was sitting on my patio, and noticed that one lizard had wandered fairly close to my bare feet. As luck would have it, a mosquito also came by and landed on my big toe. I guess I had kept still enough to be considered a stationary object, because the lizard promptly jumped up onto my foot and consumed said mosquito.
FANTASTIC!
I tried to keep very still long enough to get out my cell phone and take a picture, but I twitched at the wrong time and the dude panicked and scurried off. But that’s fine. If he/she is gonna be eating mosquitos, they are absolutely welcome on my patio any time…
Hehe. I once was carrying a small lizard on my hand, taking it back to where I found it, and, all in one second, it opened its mouth fast enough to grab a large fly buzzing around. Startled, I yelled and it scurried off…
I have plenty of lizard anecdotes that would probably make you bored to the point of a coma
Lizards and mosquitoes… Florida’s main native species.
While I’ve seen tons of lizards, I’ve never seen one eat a bug in front of me, so I’m curious. Does it have a long tongue that grabs the bug or does it just open its mouth and grab? If so, how was it fast enough to get the mosquito?
Sounds fascinating and like it would make a very cool video.
Great story!! I love those little lizards that abound in Florida, they are fun to watch.
A similar-yet-different Florida experience:
Back in '04 I went to Discovery Cove in Orlando, and part of the package there is a gorgeous walk thru aviary That you actually have to swim thru a waterfall to get into- very cool. They give you cups of nectar to feed the birds once in. I was on a wooden bridge when a scarlet ibis came marching down the railing toward me. I held the nectar out to it, knowing that they were meat-eaters, but thought what the hay. I’ll try… just then, a big red ant crawled up the inside of my arm.
The ibis cocked his head, spied the ant, and ever so gently, used that huge bill to pluck the ant off. It was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.
That is amazing! Lizards usually move so fast you can’t see 'em. When I was in Mexico we had all sorts of lizards scurrying around, but they would dart off so fast I barely had a chance to take a peek much less encourage them to feast off my big toe.
Anoles abound by my pool area…sometimes I’ll go out to sunbathe and just watch them for enjoyment. Seeing them scuttle after ants and tilt their heads to grab them makes me smile.
I saw one last week with a red head…I wonder what type of selection caused that?
I am not sure what you saw but I know some of the lizards around here have this red “bubble skin thing” every once in a while that comes out of its chin area. My husband said it had something to do with getting colorful for mating but I have no idea. Maybe that is what you saw.
We have the little suckers all over too and they don’t really bother me in the house. The problem is my dogs love them…and think they are toys. I get a little tied of finding dead lizards between the sofa cushions. Yuck.
I once saw one struttin’ his stuff for a lady, only to be snatched and eaten by a bird! Startled the hell out of me! And his lady, too - she ran off, but came back looking all put out…
A similar thing happened to me a while back, except with a dragonfly. I wish I had a fleet of dragonflies I could deploy while I’m out in the backyard.
When you see two or more males flashing red at each other, it’s almost certainly an instance of their jockeying for dominance over territory and access to females. If you see one flashing all by his lonesome, this king of his castle might be asserting his dominance over all he surveys, or he could be cruising (or both).
Unfortunately, in many neighborhoods now you won’t see as much of such displays for any reason because the gigantic Cuban Knight anoles, an invasive, aggressive species, have become a well-established presence. These newer anoles love to chow down on smaller lizards, as well as bird chicks, tiny rodents, big insects, and whatever else they can fit in their mouth. A fully grown Knight anole might even prey upon smaller mature birds, but I don’t know that for sure.
Here’s the Wiki page on the smaller anoles; here’s Wiki on the Knight anole. I learned that the small Cuban brown anoles are an invasive species too; although when I was growing up, that was the one we assumed was the native species. (The native green anoles were far less common.)
Yup, we have tons of those little buggers. They drive the cats insane when they’re on the other side of the glass. Woe betide the lizard that gets into the pool area though, he’s lunch. Not to mention the little (and sometimes not so little) banded black snakes they bring in the house and release still alive to play with. And the huge frog that gets into the swimming pool and needs to be fished out once in a while.
I love my lizards! They’re the coolest things to watch. I like the fact that they eat mosquitoes and flies, so they are welcome on my back porch. I had one come and hop up on the table beside me once while I was sittin’ on my porch. He reared up, flashed his red throat at me then ran off. Guess he showed me who’s boss!
Yesterday I saw dragonflies mating. They mate on the wing. I did not know that until I saw several dragonfly pairs flyin’ around. They also eat mosquitoes, so I love 'em around the pool.
Growing up in San Diego, lizard hunting was one of our main activities. Mostly we caught fencies, but there were whiptails and alligator lizards along with our favorite horny toads. I think kids like us were responsible for the decline of the horned toad population in SoCal, but they seem to be coming back now.
