Why you like that?

Seriously, what is it with anoles and their sleeping positions?

Carolina anole Anolis carolinensis asleep across top hanger of porch lamp
This is far from the first time finding one here, but the position was so perfect this particular evening.

Carolina anole Anolis carolinensis asleep across top hanger of porch lamp
Look at those toes. Though you’d think that getting, you know, on top would be more comfortable and less likely to fall off, but then you wouldn’t be thinking like an anole. At the very least, I can credit this one for picking a position that gets just about the earliest sunlight in the morning – it would probably be better up on top of the chimney that it’s right alongside, but perhaps harder to claim as its own.

And then there’s this one:

Carolina anole Anolis carolinensis asleep across loop of decorative ironwork
This is within the shed, which the anoles strive to get into for whatever reason, though we’re not sure they know how to find their way out again so we’re constantly ushering them outside, and that can become quite a rodeo at times. Again, you’d think that even if it insisted on this iron rack as a bed, it could have found a more comfortable position, such as on the horizontal bar right behind it. Do anoles like sinus headaches? Is this how they show off for the anolettes? Maybe this is the safest position when you discover those late-night flies didn’t agree with your little tummy? And should I find some scrollwork with a tighter loop to see if I can coax one into a complete circle?

The next one isn’t quite as awkward, but infinitely more threatening.

Carolina anole Anolis carolinensis snoozing vertically on bamboo plant support
Not clutching a makeshift cannon, or at least I don’t think it was, but this was just sleeping vertically on a bamboo support pole for one of the young Japanese maples; had it not awoken as I leaned it to focus, it would have looked less threatening.

These were all from one warm night, and it’s turned quite chilly again, so maybe we won’t be seeing quite as many from here on out. Okay, listen, I promise, no more anoles for at least another week, okay? Sheesh

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