Green anole in Cape Cod in January
Veronica Worthington writes from Cape Cod: “This September I found an anole in my unheated, open greenhouse. I snapped a picture of him and he scurried off. Cold weather sets in, below freezing off and on, and I figure the anole must not have made it but to my surprise a few days ago, January 14th, I see him again and he’s perfectly fine. I have no idea how he could’ve gotten here, I have not brought any plants in to the greenhouse in a few years and I have no neighbors that could’ve had a pet lizard. Have you heard anything about anoles migrating north?”
First sighting, September 2019
Veronica then added in a subsequent email: “I find it so curious that this little guy ended up in my backyard. And that he has been able to survive all this time. No matter who I tell they say he must have arrived as a hitchhiker on a plant But I have not brought any plants into the greenhouse in a few years and it is always unheated in winter and the doors and sides are open all summer. I don’t know how far they travel naturally catchy but I can’t imagine that this little guy would’ve traveled very far on his own. I don’t have any neighbors close to me that keep reptiles. The first picture is of him two days ago and the second picture is of him five months ago. Both times that I have seen him he is exactly where I saw him the last time, on a bag of wool. I raise sheep and that’s where the wool came from.”
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Rolly Polly Anole
Well, its unlikely that wool is being pulled over our eyes here, so perhaps a new ecotype is evolving instead; lizards that live in sheep’s fleeces during winter, stay warm via their body heat, and feed on wool dwelling bugs.
The sheep on her place could be serving as mobile oases for pioneering green anoles.
I hope the creators of Shaun the Sheep see this article.