April 28, 2019 - Florida - Other Critters

It’s quite common for us to see a Green Anole on the deck of the house we rent during our winter stay on St. George Island, Florida. I like the blue-green coloring around the eye. Also notice the reddish area on the throat. The Anole can inflate its throat so that this area becomes a large red dewlap under the chin. This year I didn’t have a chance to photograph one displaying its dewlap.

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Anoles have a very long, thin tail. In this photo, the tail appears to be about twice as long as the rest of the Anole’s body.

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Ghost Crabs are seen on the beach but it’s hard to get a photo of one. They seem to sense your approach and they scurry down a hole in the sand. This one is right at the edge of its hole and I managed to snap a photo before it disappeared.

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When my friend John Murphy and I were birding at Lake Henrietta in Tallahassee, we heard some splashing around in the water below. We were surprised to see this Wild Boar because the lake is situated in an urban area.

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We had two Gray Squirrels visiting the feeders I put out for the birds. They couldn’t get on the feeders, but they did clean up any seed that fell to the deck. They are noticeably smaller and redder than the Gray Squirrels we have in Minnesota.

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On March 2, we found this small (about 6 inches long) reptile on our deck. I used the iNaturalist app to submit this photo and ask for an identification. It took until April 20, but finally someone suggested this is a Mediterranean House Gecko. It is from the Mediterranean area but has spread to many parts of the world. However, because it doesn’t seem to threaten native species, it is not considered invasive.

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