Anole in the drink. Photo by Pat Shipman

Editor’s note: through an editorial lapse, this post has remained unposted for a while. But given the great interest in the recent post on aquatic anoles of Costa Rica (be sure to read the comments), as well as the call for aquatic anole photos, now seems the time!

Some months ago I posted about A. maynardi playing possum in the birdbath after taking offense at my photo-taking and jumping in. Here is another post about this same behavior. A few days later, without any human intervention I found what is probably the very same anole doing the “dead anole float” in the birdbath, eyes closed, limbs limp. While I watched three different species of bird came to drink from the bird bath — a bananaquit, a Northern mockingbird, and a Zenaida dove. They did seem a trifle disconcerted to find an anole in their soup, but none showed any interest in eating it (which I would have expected only from the mocker). We are wondering if, in the height of the dry season, which it was, our anoles are soaking up moisture through their skin. The closest other source of fresh (-ish) water is a murky pond at least 1/4 mile away, which is a long distance for a little lizard.

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