Although I see a lot of beauty in nature, it’s not often that I get to see really cool action. But when I was walking on Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary’s boardwalk and spotted two male Brown Anoles (Anolis sagrei) facing off, I knew I was in for a rare treat. As you can see from the video that I recorded, the two males antagonized and attacked each other. What the video doesn’t show is the top male leap from the wood plank and lunge at his rival below. Nor does it show that the two males actually rolled off the boardwalk during the fight scene at the end of the video!
Brown Anoles are not native to Florida; they were brought from Cuba and the Bahamas. Unfortunately, they have become abundant and outcompeted native Green Anoles in some places. However, sometimes it takes a very common species to provide opportunities to glimpse the amazing behaviors of the animal kingdom.
More info: http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/reptiles/brown-anole/
