Local Lizards

I run a mostly organic garden, because: I mostly grow food crops. The only thing I deviate on, is herbicide, and that only goes in select areas. (Like the gravel play area that I did not create.) Well I also use amdro bait. I cannot abide fire ants in my beds.

So, as I’m gardening I frequently see spiny lizards and geckos.

The coolest lizard I have on my property is called a Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis).

These little guys are not only fun to watch, (as they scurry around eating bugs in my garden) but they have the ability to change colors like chameleons.

They can’t do as many fancy changes in colors that chameleons can do, but I enjoy seeing them in brown or green or almost black. They also have a ruby throat that they puff out when looking for a mate. I have noticed when they get heat stressed, they are often dark brown and I rarely see them in that color. Nature has some interesting creations!

They are neat little lizards and I’m happy to share my garden with them. If you pick them up they might pinch you with a bite, but it’s more like a frog bite than a painful bite. They aren’t poisonous or venomous and they love to eat cockroaches and other pests. I tend not to pick any of my lizard friends up (unless they get into my house, then I just put them back outside) because: lizards and geckos are fragile and it’s easy to break their toes and tails.

If you have these in your garden and you’d like to know more, here’s a great link showing their range and stats: https://srelherp.uga.edu/lizards/anocar.htm

Meet you out in the garden to visit with our little, lizard friends!

Crazy Green Thumbs