When the weather turns warm and sunny, it is not uncommon for me to spot Common Five-lined Skinks (Plestiodon fasciatus), one of the few lizards that are present in my area. Most of the time I see them on the trunks of trees or on fallen logs, but occasionally I will see one on a man-made structure that has crevices and overhangs where they can hide.
Skinks are skittish and will scamper away if they detect my presence, so I have to be super stealthy in approaching them to get a shot. In the case of these photos, I was at the edge of a small pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge last week looking for dragonflies when some movement on a nearby concrete fishing platform caught my eye. The skink had just crawled out of the shadows and was surveying the area when I captured these images.
Juvenile skinks have blue tails and there appears to be some blue on the tail that is especially visible in the second photo, so I am guessing that it is almost a full-grown adult. Some scientists believe that the blue color functions as a decoy, diverting the attention of predators to this “expendable part” of the body—the tail is detachable and regrows if it is lost. Other scientists propose that the blue coloration serves to inhibit attacks by aggressive adult males, who might otherwise view the juveniles as rivals.
If you are curious and would like to see a photo of the blue tail of a juvenile skink, check out this 2021 blog posting entitled Juvenile Skink in April.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
This species of lizard looks stunning. The skin and the weird blue tail just add to the mystery. Never seen a lizard like this before.
Thanks. I am always fascinate by lizards of all sorts. In my part of the world, we don’t have very many varieties–I think that I would have to visit the tropics to see larger, more colorful ones.
Yeah. And, around here we find salamanders, they look scary but are handsome.. I am not really into wildlife but it intrigues me a lot.
Stealthy little buggers. I enjoy our green Anoles, Skinks are perhaps too snake like in their movements. As I type this one is no further than 3 feet away, skulking around the flowers pots, inside my screened in porch. 🤨🤨
I have seen amazing photos of the antics of green anoles, which seem to have lots of personality. We don’t have very many lizard-type critters here, so I am happy when I manage to spot one from time to time.
Anoles are an entertainment here LOL. Coffee on the back porch and a circus event in the morning
The lines on this skink are so clearly defined and the back ‘claws’ on the back feet are very long. Marvellous creature!
You obviously studied the photos closely, Liz, which really makes me happy. I love to try to capture the kind of details that you pointed out and then post the photos a bit larger than necessary so that interested viewers can zoom in.
Is it too corny to comment, “Slick!”
Nope. Not too corny. 🙂