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Nature_Reflections_ lizard

Feature Article April 29

Feature Article June 17, 2004

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Nature Reflections - Our only lizard

The only lizard found in Ontario is a slender, smooth and shiny creature called the Five-lined Skink. Skinks are very alert and active and difficult to catch and hold. And if one tries to catch it by the tail, the tail readily breaks off and the skink scuttles rapidly away.

My first opportunity to see one of these animals happened last week. As I went outside, a sudden movement in my garden caught my eye, and checking it out I discovered the skink hiding under a plant. Cupping my hands around the plant caused it to move and climb onto my hand. Remarkably, it stayed there for several minutes, but was quickly gone before my grandson could bring the camera. And since I did not grab its tail, it scooted away intact.

Unlike the generally secretive salamanders, the skink is most active on sunny days when it feeds on insects and spiders, and also unlike soft-skinned salamanders, it has scales. The Five-lined Skink, our Ontario lizard, has five yellowish-coloured stripes running from the nose down the back, sides and tail, though these stripes fade or disappear with age. The background for these stripes is black in juveniles, but also fades to brown or gray in older individuals. Adult males have bright orange jaws and chin (more intense during breeding season), and fatter heads than females, but the one I saw was a juvenile, evident by a bright blue tail. This colour also fades with age.

The ability to drop its tail is protection from predators so that it can escape. The tail will regenerate, but is usually shorter than the original. Since these reptiles hibernate from early October to mid-May, this may be costly as the tail is a storehouse of fat reserves needed for hibernation.

The Five-lined Skink prefers a moist habitat like open woodlands and rock outcrops where after breeding in June, the female will lay about 9 eggs in a nest, often in rotting wood or under a rock. She will guard the eggs for the time it takes to hatch (one book says 24 to 55 days), but her care ceases when the young leave the nest a couple of days after hatching. The brightly-coloured hatchlings are from 4 to 6 cm in length, and will grow to about double that size, maturing in their second year, but their life expectancy is only about 5 years.

Like many animals in our environment skink populations are vulnerable or threatened, due to loss of habitat on popular beaches and in cottage country. I hope the one in my garden matures, finds a mate, and produces another generation of these attractive little creatures.

Observations: Spring flowers are being replaced by the summer beauties, such as the Ox-eye Daisy, Canada Anemone and the Tall Buttercup. Summer butterflies are evident. Nature is a busy, exciting place - share your sightings, contact Jean at 268-2518, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With the participation of the Government of Canada