One Amazing Lizard – An Incredible “Feet”

 



On July 19, 2015 Maria and I went shopping in Gainesville, then drove out to our daughter’s farm near Jonesville.   As we pulled out of our driveway, there was a brown Anolis lizard perched on the arm of my windshield wiper.  I was wondering if the lizard would dive into a crack and hide under the hood.  But no!  He stayed right where he was.  The slow speeds in town didn’t seem to bother him.  We stopped briefly at Publix and then Trader Joe’s.  The lizard did not budge.

Then came the real test.  We headed onto I-75, north bound, and as our speed increased, the lizard got excited.  He jumped onto the windshield!  The car was going 60 miles per hour and this little lizard was hanging on to clean glass under hurricane force wind by the skin of his toes.  Not only that, a semi truck with a red cab passed us and the lizard began signaling to the truck with his orange dewlap!  He did the same as a red pickup truck went past.  We expected him to fly off at any moment, but he had incredible feet.   He hung onto that glass with his eyes mostly closed until the Oaks Mall exit.  I didn’t go more than 60 mph.  I really didn’t want to lose him.

We headed west on Newberry Road and he stayed on the windshield for several miles with the car going 45 miles per hour.   I felt sorry for him so I pulled over and shooed him off the glass onto the wiper again.  He rode out to the farm and then back to the house.  He taunted the wind by jumping from wiper arm to windshield and back as we drove home.  During the trip this brown anole changed color from tan to very dark brown, and finally to medium brown with a whitish patch on each side, perhaps reflecting his various moods. 

That lizard had nerves of steel and feet like superglue.