Fun with anoles

Hello, Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Our native lizard, the green anole, is a grand animal to have around your house. On warm days, you can watch them catching the rays on your front porch railings, if you have an old house like ours. Lots more fun than phone scrolling. If you want to get a rise out of the neighbor’s children, catch one and when it opens its mouth to bite, put it on your earlobe. It doesn’t hurt and they’ll stay attached for a while. They have lots of small, sharp teeth to catch insects, soft bodied ones but also beetles and such. Males have some differences in their teeth as they are quick to fight other males who come into their territory. The non-native Cuban or brown anole is a threat to our green anoles, but it seems here to stay.