American Five-lined Skink

I drove to Hattiesburg, MS to visit a dear friend today. On the way I passed a turkey and a pair of swallow-tailed kites (birds), but at 70 mph and no good shoulder to pull over to get a picture, had to pass them by.

I had a nice visit, a delicious lunch, and a tour of tornado damage to the city from a tornado that went through in February. It reminded me of hurricane damage, with blue tarps on roofs, some houses bull-dozed, and some abandoned. It was amazing how the tornado skipped through the town, touching down then lifting up to touch down in another neighborhood.

This skink was hanging out on the windowsill, stalking bugs. The immature American Five-lined Skink (as opposed to the African one of the same name) has a blue tail. They are able to separate part of their tail to distract predators while they scurry off to hide. This one is regrowing part of its tail.