Vacation in Vieques, Complete with Anoles

Frigid temperatures in Boston are making me long for the warm waters of Vieques, PR and the time I was there in October. Truth be told, I work for Jonathan Losos in a mostly administrative role, but even that has turned me into an avid lizard hunter when on vacation in the tropics. I even set a goal for myself – to find and photograph all three species of anoles on the island – except for the one no one has seen in almost 100 years. I trusted that if several professionals have not been able to find A. roosevelti, than my chances were slim (although, I did keep my eyes out for large lizards falling out of trees, just in case). To my absolute delight, the other three species, A. cristatellus, A. pulchellus, and A. stratulus could all be seen running around the manicured garden that surrounded the house I was staying in. We named one “King” and watched him move from palm tree to palm tree, displaying to the other anoles in the vicinity. (I’ve observed many anoles in Ecuador, but had never seen an anole move its tail back and forth before as a display – adorable!)

I watched a spirited courtship between a male and female A. pulchellus in ferns, and spent far too much time trying to get a shot of A. stratulus – particularly one that could always be seen on the wall of the pool house, but would promptly run through the door when I pulled out my camera.

There was even an A. stratulus running around without a front hand. He seemed to move about just fine, though, both through the house and around the vegetation outside. I was proud of my non-biologist friend that worried about him missing “so many sticky toes”. Also entertaining was a fight between two juveniles – unfortunately shot with my cheap telephoto lens, so the quality is poor, but it’s still entertaining: video

Looking forward to a week in the Bahamas in May – another vacation, but I’m sure it too will be filled with anoles.