Photographed on 6/09/2002 just a few hours after the 1st email exchange printed below.

This fellow is on the sunshade on one of my dog pens.

If you want to attract wildlife to your yard, give it plenty of places to live. You can't do much better than to have lots of flowers in pots and small areas of garden. My yard is now populated by dozens of toads, lizards, five lined skinks, etc.

I also have had two birds raise thier babies in containers on the back of the house. Another one has just taken up residence in a hanging basket on my front porch.

When I moved to my house seven years ago there were almost no birds - now their voices and activites provide a delightful background to my outdoor work all day long.

As Canon says in their public service announcement on Nature: "Capture it in the wild (with photographs), and leave it as you found it."

Please be aware that I am not a lizard expert - I just observe them and respect them.

Email from visitor to my website:
Subject: A Wild Anole in my apartment!

Dear Judith,
I recently have moved to Florida from Minnesota. I have my own apartment here and live by myself. That is, myself and an anole lizard! Somehow it must've gotten inside. Initially I was terrified because in the northern climate where I am from, we don't have lizards that get inside! When I first noticed him about a month ago, he was bright green. Now, he's changed color dramatically and blends in perfectly with my carpet! Do you have any tips as to how I can catch him and put him back in his natural habitat? He has survived so long here and is incredibly fast. It's been impossible for me to capture him. I would so much appreciate if you have any tips on how to catch him. Thank you so very much! Sincerely, Cassie

Answer: If he is sitting still, you can pick him up by his tail and just take him outside. He absolutely cannot and will not bite. He won't hurt anything inside - he does need access to food (bugs) and water and sunshine. It would be great if you can catch him and put him out on the bushes.

I have also caught them by placing a plastic food storage container over them, then sliding a piece of cardboard or something like that under. You might find him sitting on a plant which you could carry outside.

Thanks for caring,
Judith

My answer: I really don't know. The best way to ensure that they at least have a chance is to provide plenty of shelter for them. Place a generous amount of compost (dead leaves especially) and organic mulch around bushes and plants. Plants in pots seem to be particularly attractive to these little lizards. Shelter from preditors is also important.

One comment - which I did mention to the obviously very kind man who had released these lizards into his yard. Purchasing pets from pet stores encourages pet stores to restock. I know it is hard to resist trying to help the animals, but we really need to stop the pet trade - it is the breeding animals that we need to consider. I'm sure you know about "puppy mills." Shop at pet stores that do not sell live animals.

Here are a couple of links on composting:

Mastercomposter
Florida's Online Composting Center - contains tutorials

Email from visitor to my website, this is a sad one:".... my god mother just brought my little boy who is 7 a green anole back from Alabama and we live in [a state adjacent to North Carolina]. This is his first time having a lizard but he loves animals so I'm trying to learn more about the lizards. Well we have only had the anole for 5 days now and guess what she laid an egg. So i really am trying to figure out what to do about this. I'm not for sure if the egg is fertile or if that happens after the egg is laid. Good luck huh. lol. I'm really trying to find a male to go with her now and my family and I are fixing to go on a camping trip to North Carolina..... But if you have any information about being able to purchase one somewhere there in that area I would really appreciate it. I'm hoping to look around and maybe capture another one and hopefully a male this time. I love to watch this one change from green to brown. They are really a cute animal. Well thank you for your time."

My reply: The very most wonderful thing you could do is let the little girl lizard go back free into where she came from. You can very often observe these lizards in your yard. I am sorry to say she will probably die in captivity, as it will be hard for you to provide her with the insect diet she needs. I hope you will consider letting her go, and then teach your son to look for her, and her potential offspring in the wild. They are really easy to spot on fences, tree limbs, etc. These lizards are not meant to be kept as pets. If your son is intersted in keeping a lizard as a pet, you might want to visit a pet store which sells them.

You can also get books from your local library which would help with how to care for them, and of course this type of information is available on the web.

Good luck. I will pray that you consider letting this little girl go back to her natural home.

Next email from the same visitor: "Hi and thanks for the information we are going to have to visit the pet store now, because you will never believe what happened. while I was typing to you i went back out on the front porch where i was letting her get some of the suns rays like I had read about and she was dead i don't have a clue what happened if she choked on the lighting bug my son but in there or if she had tried to jump out again and hit her head the wrong way or what but he was sick over it. He really liked watching and caring for it. I really hated it. and we checked the egg and i noticed it last night that half of it was caved in. So it wasn't a fertile egg. But I told him that when we go to North Carolina that we would check the pet stores there for hand raised ones. Thanks so much for e-mailing me back. See where I live here in [state name omitted] there is none of the anoles and I have read that if you are looking for a pet lizard they are the best to start out with. So we can maybe check there when we visit. Take care and thanks again so much."

My reply: Thank you for your reply. It is never a good thing to take a wild animal from its environment, even a small one. But a pet raised [purposely] to be a pet can adapt. I hope you will go to your local library to get some books on how to care for your new pet. And teach your son to observe wild things in the wild - it can be really interesting and fun.

Best wishes.