frontyard anole birdbath battle video

[joneill809]

Caught this video a few months back and finally got it off my iPod and posted. We live in Austin where Green Anoles abound. Here are three males fighting over an empty bird bath - it was quite entertaining for our kids (and me!). The third anole enters the fight at 2:20 in. Thought you would enjoy (turn down the volume if you don't want to hear the 2YO and 3.5YO's running commentary )
http://www.oneillscrossing.com/2012/05/13/lizard-fight/

[Philsuma]

You are SO lucky to have the greens. They are the first one's pushed out by the browns.

[joneill809]

You are SO lucky to have the greens. They are the first one's pushed out by the browns.

Yeah they are fun to watch! The males scurry around the property flaring their throats all the time! Good entertainment at breakfast.

We also have a pair of skinks (don't know what kind - they are fast - bright lines, dark body, not very colorful) that moved into our front landscaping and hatched out some babies. We have a pair of Texas Spiny Lizards in the back yard that also have a bunch of babies running around. And we have Mediterranean geckos climbing all over the house...one perk of moving to Texas - lots of interesting critters. Though it kind of freaks me out when you can spot a spider from 50 yards away as you drive down the street.

[joneill809]

Figured I'd tack on to this thread - was out mowing today and caught sight of a few whiptails and a Texas spiny lizard. Wasn't quick enough to snap a photo but I did find a few borrows.

We xeriscaped a few years back and as part of the project we put in a 3 ft high sandy loam berm in the front yard. Turns out the loose soil, large rocks and drought resistant plants made for a good lizard habitat:
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They are too freakin fast for me to get a good picture. I'll keep after it. Only downside was yesterday afternoon we were watching one of the young whiptails and a spiny lizard scooting around a boulder. Then we saw a thin snake head rise up out of the grass, look around, then slide away. I only saw a profile from 20 feet away but I would guess garter snake (not worried) or coral (worried). Both have been spotted in the neighborhood. Anyhow kids are fully briefed on how to avoid snakes...but the lizards are cool

So I feel like I need to add a critter shot so here is a snake my dog found on a hike by the lake a few years back. Beautiful...when its not in my yard:
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[joneill809]

Hmmm upside down pics...

Not to bore you with more Texas front yard wildlife, but we sat in our front room and snapped some photos today after a good rain. The rain seemed to get the bugs moving around and the local lizards went nuts tracking down easy meals on our driveway. Here's a big male green anole displaying on a gate pillar:
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And this is the guy on the other side of the drive way he was eyeballing:
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And the girl in the middle?
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A couple of texas spiny lizards were scooting around the driveway too:
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And the final visitor for the evening - a fast little hummingbird enjoying pink skullcap flowers:
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[Philsuma]

wow..excellent shots Jim. I see 90% cuban brown anoles here, wish there were more greens.

[joneill809]

Thanks Phil! I've only seen greens here and they are everywhere which is pretty cool. You pretty much cannot go outside without seeing one. The spiny lizards are around a good bit and those whiptails are usually out, but if they even catch a glimpse of you they are gone...it still amazes me to see all this going on in my front yard. Yankee transplant :lol:

[joneill809]

Well I FINALLY got a shot of one our resident whiptail after my kids saw the pair running around our front landscaping. We can usually spot their offspring, but seeing the parents is a treat. They are really shy and bolt at the first sign of a person, so I was lucky to get these two crummy cell phone shots:
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I don't know the specific ID - but based on the local Texas lizard resources my suspicion was a whiptail. There are supposed to be two kinds in our area. This pair has several burrows in our landscaping that they shuttle between. The are freakin' fast! It's so exciting for us to see all these critters flitting about our front yard.

[joneill809]

Gotta love spring in Texas...all the lizards are out and about. Grabbed a few photos while cleaning out the leaf litter from the front yard. The local male greens are out and setting up territories. I guess I set my coffee down in the wrong spot:
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I almost did not notice this guy (Texas Spiny Lizard on a Live Oak trunk):
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These whip tails are my favorites - they are fast and skittish. It wasn't too warm yet so this one kept coming out to sun itself. We have a breeding pair living under a big rock out front.
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I counted at least 4 hatchlings tooling around with the pair this morning. Adult on the left, larger juvie on the right:
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[Philsuma]

Awesome thread Jim !!

Texas people....post some Horned Lizard pics !! My fav lizard next to Geckos and Chameleons.

If I lived out west, I'd have a Rock Garden fenced in yard with populations of horned lizards.

[joneill809]

Thanks Phil! Unfortunately I have never seen a wild Texas horned lizard in the 10+ years I have lived here. One hypothesis is they have migrated west as fire ants have moved in and displaced harvester ants. Maybe the guys on the canyon side of the street get some - they usually just complain about the occasional rattlesnake (none have ventured over to our block so far ).

We eliminated about 70% of our grass and moved to gravel beds with boulders and drought tolerant plants about four years ago. Once we did that the lizard population boomed. I suspect that nice four foot deep pile of fresh soil helped - there are burrows everywhere. It's amazing to me that all these critters are jammed into the same 15 ft x 30 ft decomposed granite / sandy loam berm.

[joneill809]

Spotted this guy in one of our outdoor storage bins:
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He hopped off pretty quickly under a bunch of stuff. It was about one to one and a half inches long. Guess I'll leave the lid cracked tonight

[joneill809]

It's fall hatch time down here and there are a few dozen tiny greens darting around our yard. This little guy was on the back porch....
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[joneill809]

Here You go Phil - satisfying your green fix . Climbing the gutters again .... talk about easy to spot:
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[joneill809]

Here's an unusual one that was hanging on the fence post tonight:
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[Dan1990]

I envy you and your local reptile populations

[Hydromaestro]

These pics are awesome! I live in Arizona and there are Texas horned lizards everywhere It seems. It might a different species or something but judging by the pictures on google it's the same kind we see running around here. They are really fast and extremely hard to catch but they do look amazing

[Philsuma]

Jim, that appears to be a male Anolis all 'fired up' and combating other males and in mating condition. The ridge and odd color is key and that black spot behind the eye is also indicative of male vs male stress and fighting. It will disappear.

Now lets see some Horned Lizards!

[joneill809]

These pics are awesome! I live in Arizona and there are Texas horned lizards everywhere It seems. It might a different species or something but judging by the pictures on google it's the same kind we see running around here. They are really fast and extremely hard to catch but they do look amazing

Now lets see some Horned Lizards!

Hah I shoot wildlife from my porch and I've yet to see a horned lizard about. Seriously though I am not sure how much of them I will see as the neighborhood is pretty serious about fire ant control and I think other species of ants suffer from that so I'm not sure how much food is really around for them....we have mostly crickets, beetles and Isopods around the yard. I keep looking for them when we go on our local hikes, but they are supposed to be difficult to find in Austin, if they are even still around

I envy you and your local reptile populations

Thanks Dan! Being a Texas transplant, it's pretty neat to see these critters just hanging out around the house. I'm waiting for the whiptails to return this year - I've seen them a street over but not in my yard yet. We've got a spiny lizard back already and of course the anoles are everywhere.

[Dan1990]

I got a vacation to AZ coming up in the end of June beginning of July. Maybe ill get to see some of these reptiles in their native habitat. Ill bring my bearded dragons. They would enjoy the trip.