Meet Ms.(top).and Mr. (bottom) Broad-headed Skink.
Broad-headed skinks are a form of arboreal of lizard that thrives in the low country of South Carolina. They forage on the ground, but also easily and often climb trees for safety, shelter, and to sleep,or to search for food. Although they do occur in residential areas, they can be hard to spot. Their preferred habitat is humid forest areas with abundant leaf litter, especially oak forest,, where they rapidly bury themselves in leaves or climb the nearest tree at the first sign of nearby movement.
We were lucky enough to get close enough to photograph these two, only because love is in the air, and well ( how can I put this delicately)... they were a bit distracted.
The Broad Headed Skink gets its name from the wide jaws, giving the head a triangular appearance. Adult males are brown or olive brown in color and have bright orange heads during the mating season in spring. Notice how excited this fella shown above is.
Females (above) typically are larger than males. By larger I mean girth, not length since the tail of these lizards will break off at the tip if the skink is captured or threatened by a predator. (We think that might explain how the young lady above is so plump, compared to her suitor, but so much shorter in length.)
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