Green anole lizard (Anolis carolinesis) Photo by Doug Murray
We spotted this little fellow during a Christmas day stroll through the 128-acre Oakland Nature Preserve, in the town of Oakland, Fla.
Our guide was my sister-in-law Sally, who has lived much of her life in or around Winter Garden, the next town over. Sally's grandfather was Winter Garden's first barber, so her family goes back a ways in the area.
We made our way down the preserve's raised boardwalk, which traverses a marshy, thickly wooded section of Lake Apopka's southern shore. The lake has long been considered "dead," as decades of runoff from the surrounding agribusiness flushed the lake with pesticides and fertilizers, creating an algae bloom killed off many of the fish and native plants.
Work started during the 1990s has restored the lake to some of its former glory, bringing back the native plant and fish species, along with the amazing variety of birds that feed upon them. The Oakland Nature Preserve has done an admirable job of restoring native flora and fauna to its acreage and conduct community classes and school field trips. (Check it out at www.oaklandnaturepreserve.org)
A light misty rain fell all around us as we walked through the canopy -- lush even in December -- and listened to the birds and the stories Sally related about the plants she remembered from her youth.
For example the lantana, a shrub dotted wit round reddish-orange blossoms with bright yellow centers, once was so widespread that Sally's grandmother treated it as a pesky weed. People worked hard to eradicate lantana back in the day, Sally recalled. Now, she said, they are a staple in garden stores, and people buy them.
Isn't it funny how we figure that if we didn't plant something in our yard it doesn't belong there? Seems it would be a lot less work to just allow and enjoy the plants that are native to a place.
Being a child of the dry desert West, Doug lagged behind us a bit taking it all in and hoping to see his first alligator. As a result, he was the one to spot the green anole and remarked on its brilliant green. He raised his camera, but the little guy scurried off before he could get a shot (or so we thought).
"The green lizards are native but you hardly ever see them," Sally said. It's true that predation by the many introduced species of lizards have taken a toll on the green anole population. Doug snapped a photo of the little brown lizard pictured above that had popped into the green one's place.
As it turns out, however, the lizard in the photo probably is the same green one Doug originally saw. The Anolis carolinesis has a chameleon-like quality in that it turns brown when it is stressed or cold. Given the 60-degree temperatures and the three large humans crowding around to see, this lizard probably felt a bit of both.
Amazing stuff and the kind of Christmas gift that comes without a bow.
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