Climbing the walls with local lizards

When Claire Coco was growing up on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, she had very clear parameters for identifying dangerous wildlife: If her mother didn’t know what an animal was, it was simply labeled as poisonous. Now, as the director of BREC’s Bluebonnet Swamp, Coco provides children with a more scientific approach to nature.

Since the state has an abundance of food year-round, Coco says none of Louisiana’s wildlife goes into true hibernation, in which metabolism slows to one-eightieth of its normal rate. The bulk of animal encounters seem to occur in the spring and summer because that’s when humans venture out to enjoy beautiful weather.

Lizards are among the first species to capture backyard adventurers’ imagination and attention. Besides their smooth, dry skin, basic body shape, nesting and egg reproduction cycles, all these reptiles share an uncommon ability to detach their tails. By waving their tails wildly, some lizards lure spiders and smaller predatory insects close enough to catch for a meal.

When lizards become prey themselves, their first line of defense is to run. Typically, the lizards’ speed only allows a predator to grasp the tail, which detaches and wiggles long enough to distract a predator and allow lizards to escape.

The detachment is possible because of a single natural weak point in the tail vertebrae of and a muscle arrangement designed for separation. The lizard can regenerate a new tail of cartilage with no bones. The replacement tail grows back slowly and can be detached frequently. The new growth does not exhibit the stripes, colors or other markings of the original and usually appears dark grayish.

With the possible exception of the broadheaded skink releasing a toxin if ingested by pet, none of the local Louisiana lizards are poisonous. Still, it’s important to warn children that anything with teeth can bite. Reptiles are less likely to harbor salmonella than turtles, frogs and other amphibians that may swim through tainted waters. Still, Coco advocates a thorough hand-washing after handling any animal because their habitats may contain feces or any number of substances harmful to humans.

Over the past seven years, photographer John Hartgerink has captured the beauty of the flora and the fauna during daily excursions to the Bluebonnet Swamp. The following shots of skinks and anoles show a world so close but so hidden from view. The Mediterranean house gecko photograph comes from californiaherps.com.

Ground, five-lined & broadheaded skinks

Ground and five-lined skinks are most often mistaken for salamanders as they scurry out from under piles of leaves, rotting wood or any small space inaccessible to predators. With their short limbs, these little bug-eating reptiles slither quickly on short legs more like snakes than crawl like other lizards. By contrast, salamanders are actually amphibians that look more like frogs and prefer to remain in or around water.

Since the critter looks like a crazy cross between some prehistoric monster and a snake, it’s no wonder the copper-capped, male broadheaded skinks have long been called scorpions by rural southerners who erroneously believe them to be venomous. Rather than searching for human prey, this skink is looking for a meal of worms and smaller skinks. Female broadheaded skinks are unusual among lizards because they remain with the eggs until they hatch. Broadheaded skinks spend some time on the ground; yet, they prefer the safety of live oaks and other trees with holes, where they can easily find food, shelter from predators and a safe place to lay eggs.

Brown & green anoles

Frequently confused with the Geico gecko and chameleon, the green anole is among the most common Louisiana lizards. If you think you see the same anole lurking in your garden year after year, you may be right. The eight-inch dinosaur lookalikes typically live from two to three years.

When temperatures are 70 degrees or more, green anoles tend to stay green. In temperatures 60 degrees or below, they masquerade as their brown cousins, who live in Florida. The tropical brown anoles are ground or tree-trunk dwellers; local green anoles are upper-trunk and canopy tree dwellers.

All of these “pocketbook” lizards expand a dewlap, a flap of skin under the neck, to attract a mate. Females and young males are easily identifiable by their bony, “zippered” backs. When males display for territory or females, turn bright green. During the skirmishes, the males also don extensive battle gear: They seem to have a raccoon-like mask around their eyes and deploy ridge or crest down back called a “roach” to make themselves appear more fierce. When the battle ends, the winner turns bright green and the loser turns brown.

Mediterranean house geckos

Mediterranean house geckos are the only non-native lizard species to populate Louisiana. In the 1950s, these little pink nighttime party animals probably came to the Deep South on containers deposited at port cities. Fortunately, since they are Louisiana’s only nocturnal nosher, geckos do not compete for food with daytime feeders and pose no threat to indigenous species.

House geckos often lurk on walls or ceilings near lights, waiting to ambush moths and other insects. Throughout the night, males make chirping calls possibly to defend territories and often squeak in distress when predators pick them up. Females lay pairs of oval white hard-shelled eggs above ground, under loose bark, palm fronds or other protected location.

For more information on local lizards, call the BREC’s Bluebonnet Swamp at 757-8905 or the Baton Rouge Zoo at 775-3877.

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