Green Anole: Anolis carolinensis

We have a lot of green anoles around the house. They hibernate during the winter so we normally don’t see them from late fall until spring. This year, however, one has over-wintered in the greenhouse. I saw him one afternoon and, although I had a camera with me, I was busy watering plants and wasn’t able to get the camera turned on an focused before he disappeared. He was much bigger than most of the anoles we normally see. Possibly the result of being able to hunt insects during the winter.


A week or so later, I was making my regular rounds to check on wildflowers – camera in hand – when I encountered him on the outside wall of the greenhouse. He didn’t attempt to run off so I was able to get some shots of him. I normally take a lot when I get the opportunity so I followed him as he mover relatively slowly along the wall of the greenhouse. When he got to the corner, he stopped. He apparently had had enough of being stalked.

He puffed up his body, bobbed his head, and extended his dewlap a couple of times. I was lucky enough to get a shot of the extended dewlap. He’d been a good sport so I let him go about his business with no further interruptions.

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