Just because, part 41

American five-lined skink peeking from crack in wall
I’ve had this one sitting in the folder since before the trip to the (one and only) beach, and that was a month ago, so it’s ancient and decrepit, in internet terms. But I need a buffer again.

We have a handful of American five-lined skinks (Plestiodon fasciatus) that live near or under the front steps and thus bask on them when the weather’s good, invariably getting Monster all worked up when the main door is open and she can see them through the storm door, right there. I try to leave them be when I can, but sometimes there’s just other stuff more important than allowing the lizards to sunbathe uninterrupted – strange but true. On the occasions when I exit from the back door but come around to enter the front (just to mix things up,) I’ll startle one of the skinks from the steps and they’ll scurry for cover in various locations.

Which leads to this photo, since the skink had found a small crack along the wall and disappeared, but then peeked from another crack to watch what I was doing – which was lean in with the camera for an odd portrait.

No, the house isn’t all full of cracks, but where wood meets brick, there’s rarely a perfect seam, and caulk gets old.

« [previous]
[next] »