I love lizards (and snakes), and I miss our green anole lizards we in Hawaii call 'chameleons' because of their ability to change from green to brown to blackish. They are sleek and beautiful (IMO), and have become an endangered species, at least in some yards here.
An uglier anole-like species has invaded the calm and eaten most of them up!! I can't walk through the yard without hearing rustling and seeing them run, climb, jump, and scatter about. I've even witnessed them in gangs, like mini 'raptors from Jurassic Park.
The other day one was perched on a vertical pipe about 4.5 feet in height, with its feet and toes together, head held up, as if on alert like a meerkat sentry. That would've made for a great Kodak moment, but by the time I ran back in to get my camera, it had stepped down from its perch, but remained alert (and at an interesting angle, as you'll see in the pictures). These lizards don't have much fear, and this guy stuck around while I snapped pictures of him. He did show his irritation by displaying his red-orange dewlap (flappy-thing under his throat) a few times.
They seem pretty bold, and have multiplied so that just about everywhere you turn in the yard you see one. So far they haven't come into our houses like the geckos do, but it's probably just a matter of time until they knock on the door (or knock down the door), demanding to be let in. I think with their numbers and fearlessness, they're bound to take over the yard, if not the world!
Here are more pictures of the guy perched on a pipe in our yard.
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