At first, this green anole had the bug in its mouth, but then events took a turn for the worse. At first I thought the bug was a larder beetle, but now I believe it’s a Chinese rose beetle, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on that. In the end, it got away. The anole did not look pleased to have these events witnessed.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
I found these two thrashing about under the eaves. At first I thought they were fighting, such was the violence of their activity, but I learned that’s just part of their mating ritual.
The key here is the larger male getting a grip with his jaws on the back of the female’s neck. He doesn’t let go. In this encounter, a series of skirmishes interspersed bouts of wrestling with periods of rest. All the while the male maintained a firm grip.
After one tussle, the male lost his footing and ended up hanging off the back of the female, his jaws still clenched on her neck. The female hung on with a couple of claws, as they swung side to side. Then she lost her grip.
The pair plunged onto a ti plant where the male immediately puffed out his dewlap. The female took the opportunity to scamper off. He pursued for a while but lost track of her and gave up. The female meanwhile looked somewhat the worse for wear, a clump of darkened skin bunched up from her neck.
Clearly anoles are one species where relationships can literally be a pain in the neck!
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
There’s something of a daily ritual here involving the green anoles who live under the roof. Each morning two or three small anoles will head out on the cable wire and jump off into the cane grass. I call it the anole commute.
On this particular morning, a large green anole was out on the wire first. When one of the smaller ones approached, the big anole got agitated as anoles are wont to do. He began his ritual of head bobbing and puffing out his dewlap. The little fellow came on, sliding to the side of the wire. Suddenly it jumped onto the nearby telephone wire, scooted past, and leapt into the cane grass. The big anole spun around, but too late. He continued to extend his dewlap for a while to let any watchers, including me, know that this was his territory and he was not to be messed with. Point taken.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
This green anole was busy looking at something, unaware he was being observed.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
I previously posted about the anoles who live in one of the windows (here). They’re still very much in residence and on a recent morning things got a bit backed up in there. Their entry and exit point is in that top corner of the window. At the bottom of this threesome is the alpha male of the group who looked like he was getting a mite ticked off. I didn’t stick around to see what happened since, from experience, I know these encounters can take a good while to resolve.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
OK, so the headline is just clickbait (well, for some strange people maybe), but the big anole that lives in one of the windows recently shed his skin. The old layer had a lovely lacy look as it peeled away in the morning sun. When I next saw him, a couple of hours later, he was all done and looking splendid in his new outfit.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
A green anole casting shadows on a window.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
There’s a window in the house that doesn’t get opened much and this anole took up residence between the window and the screen. Actually, three or four smaller ones live in there too. At night, they disappear up into the window frame. In the morning they come down and warm up in the sun. This big guy ventures out, coming and going in one corner of the window where the screen is loose.
It’s a green anole (officially called the Carolina anole) despite its brown coloration. Green anoles can turn brown, but brown anoles can’t turn green. Life is unfair.
And, yes, the window and screen look grimy. They have since been washed. The anoles weren’t best pleased, but quickly settled back into their routines once I was done.
For more information about green anoles, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_anole.
Graham's Island 