Pictures can be deceptive. These two green anoles may seem to be watching my sweetheart gardening, but were actually disputing territory on the boundary fence of a herb garden.
It was dramatic, more so than I’m showing here. As the stand-off deteriorated into battle, we witnessed one of the anoles hanging vertically from the other, its head completely within the other’s jaw, as if being eaten alive. I didn’t try to take a picture because it looked horrific. My sweetheart scared the stronger one so it dropped the weaker, which scuttled away, but we both felt he was delaying the inevitable.
At the time, I was fascinated by the display. Lizards posturing with their heads bobbing, displaying pink dewlaps and raised dorsal crests, trying to eat each other reminded me of politicians. I know that should not be so. I didn’t realise it was about to get worse.
Susan Rushton 
It’s that time of year.
It certainly makes for theatre in the garden.
Very interesting. Most of the anoles I see are just hanging out, waiting for an insect to happen by, so I’ve never seen the raised dorsal crest. In fact, I didn’t realize they could do that. It certainly makes their “lizardness” more obvious. With the crest raised, they look more like iguanas.
Tiny ones!
They look quire cute, especially the one in the right, but I don’t think I want to know what happened next 😦
Better not to. I like them a lot. They are pretty relaxed, even though they are small. You can talk or whistle to them and they’ll appear curious.
I wouldn’t want to witness the fight either.
I can’t see how one would have eaten the other as they were a similar size, but it was giving it a really good try.
They are cute and curious.
I think so too. I’m scared of snakes, sadly, but try to talk these down from the trees. They’ll often come to see what’s going on.
Nature can be pretty grim, same with politics!
Sigh.
If I saw them in our garden for the first time, I’m pretty sure I would drop the gardening tools and surrender. Having them around would take a little getting used to…but in pictures they are cute.
I think you’d get used to them. They’re interesting and curious little creatures, when they aren’t contemplating battle.
They do indeed seem to be kibitzing. But what a story is the reality. Ugh. I wish your comparison weren’t so accurate.
Me too.
I’ve never seen these extraordinary creatures! But if they’re a type of lizard, they’re good to meet.
They are. I love watching them, but have never witnessed this drama before.
How fascinating! The Darwinian principle in action…
I was so pleased to be able to get these pictures. It was tempting to add captions, but I resisted.
Great observation resulting in an impressive photo essay! It pays to have your camera ready to document such an event from the animal kingdom!
Thanks! One of the big advantages of a pocketable camera.
It looks like an up and over moment and quite innocent. Politicians seldom look like that.
Mmm… I’m not sure innocent would have been your first thought if you’d seen them fighting. Unless they were just playing rugby (up and over) and hadn’t mastered the rules.
🤭💗