Lizard Sex

Click on any images to enlarge

I was working on the back of the lake house today -- painting and repairing rotten wood -- and I was plagued with a variety of insects, bugs and amphibians (see Phillip's Natural World II & Phillip's Natural World III).

There are always a lot of what we call 'lizards' around. They are actually Carolina anoles (Anolis carolinensis).



I was working on a rather difficult area of siding where two rooflines meet. . . patching the wood and then painting with a thick primer. These two lizards decided it would be the perfect place to have sex. . . on the wet primer. The male -- rather indelicately -- grabbed the female by the neck and held her down long enough to do his thing (and let me snap these shots).



When he was finished he let go of her neck. Her neck had a big bruise (click on the image to enlarge).

Sometimes referred to as the 'American chameleon' due to their color-changing abilities, anoles are not true chameleons.

The typical breeding season for green anoles starts from as early as April and ends to as late as August and lasts even occasionally into September. It is during this time that the most brilliant displays of these creatures can be seen, as the males must court the females with their elaborate displays. . . extending their brightly colored dewlaps (neck sac) while bobbing up and down, performing a dance.



Below: The needlessly architecturally complicated section of the house I've been working on this week.



Below: Toward the end of the day I had made it to the impractical alcove near the kitchen. I'm replacing gutters, siding, and priming with a thick oil-based primer. I'll go over it all with house paint when I've completed this section (hopefully tomorrow). The extreme heat is slowing the project.