Territorial Dispute

I observed this (full size image) interaction in my backyard one afternoon while I was hunting for good pictures. All anoles tend to flee as I walk around my backyard, but some only retreat partially or temporarily. These two stayed relatively out in the open until I moved a little closer, causing one to flee in to the vicinity of the other one causing the event seen in the picture.

Both were already partially ridged due to my presence but the crests became much larger during/following the altercation. This event only lasted a second or two, the lighter one flipped the browner one around and caused it to flee (the picture with the brown one midair being flipped is terribly out of focus/too slow of shutter speed). Sorry for the shallow depth of field, I didn’t know how to use this lens when I took this picture.

I believe both are Anolis sagrei, but have only seen that one example (in my backyard) of a brown anole looking so grey.

And an introduction:

Since recently moving to Miami I have become an anole “enthusiast,” though I am not an anole scientist (yet . . . ). In this vein, I have been photographing the anoles living in Miami (5 species so far). I probably have 300-1000 anoles living in my small backyard at any one time (a mix of Anolis sagrei, Anolis distichus, and Anolis carolinensis).

I would love to share short stories with pictures about individual anoles I have been following who live in my backyard, behavior patterns I notice with suburban anoles, and apparent changes in relative proportions of different species in the areas I frequent (backyard, around Coral Gables and FIU, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden).

I have been posting my pictures on DeviantArt if you would like to see more (Anoles only).

Some Examples

Thanks for reading!

Brian