Audubon Asks…Did You Know?

Did you know Skidaway Island is home to a lizard that can regrow its tail? The five-lined skink has five stripes running down its dark-colored back, and as a juvenile, has an electric-blue tail. 

The bright blue tail attracts predators away from the main part of the body and detaches when the predator takes hold. Once broken off, the tail will continue to twitch to further distract the predator, enabling the lizard to escape. The tail regrows, but it will be a grayish-brown color. 

Skinks live in wooded areas and feed on crickets, roaches, snails, slugs, and worms, and occasionally baby mice, spiders, beetles, and flies. They range in size from five to eight inches. The colorful tail changes to a grayish-brown color as the skink matures. During the mating season, the male’s head turns an orange-red color. 

Maintaining a diverse, natural habitat is essential to maintaining the diverse, unique wildlife of this coastal community. Skidaway Audubon’s Nature Notices campaign encourages Skidaway residents who remove trees to replace them with smaller understory trees, or groupings of native greenery, because when a tree is taken down, nature notices when its home and food source are destroyed. For more information on creating critically important habitat in your yard, visit SkidawayAudubon.org.