Herp Friday: Broadhead Skink, Eumeces laticeps
This broadhead skink, Eumeces laticeps, has been seen hanging around my house several times in the last few weeks. I was able to get some extreme close-ups of it one day when it was cool outside and he was a little sluggish. I had a fairly easy time identifying it simply based on its appearance, but to be certain, I used the key to the lizards of Arkansas contained in the excellent book, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas by Stanley Trauth et al
. Here are the basic steps I went through (not numbered here as in the key but as the number of steps I took):1. Four legs present.
2. Body scales smooth, shiny and overlapping. (That places them in the family Scincidae).
3. Frontal scale rectangle shaped; supranasal scales present (see below); lower eyelid without transparent disk. (not pictured)
4. Dorsal and lateral scales in parallel rows with the long axis of the body (2nd picture above).
5. Chin with 2 postmental scales. (not pictured)
6. Eight or nine upper labials; no postlabial or if present one or two small postlabials, the sixth labial is the first to contact the orbit (see below); maximum SVL over 85 mm (didn't measure)........Broadhead skink, Eumeces laticeps
These are relatively large lizard for this area. The adults are usually tan or brown except for the head which may turn red or orange in males during breeding season. This lizard's home range is essentially the southeastern quarter of the U.S., which overlaps with that of the Five-lined skink. These species have very similar appearances as hatchlings and can easily be confused. Some people incorrectly call broadhead skinks "scorpions", probably because they may bite if mishandled, though their bite is not poisonous.
Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark.
Labels: Friday Ark, photography, wildlife, zoology
posted by Henry at 4/27/2007 07:23:00 AM
I have also acquired 
25 Comments:
What a pretty, shiny lizard! I've never seen one before.
I stepped out onto my front porch this afternoon (5/30/07) and encountered one of these broad head skinks. He was approximately 8 inches long and his head was a bright orangish/red. This is the largest lizard I've ever seen. I ran across this blog while I was searching for an identification. I hope he hangs around.
I have one chilling out in my bathtub right now. I heard my cat chasing something large enough to make a scrambing noise across my kitchen floor...he's pretty. I guess I'll go find him a suitable tree.
I live in Memphis, TN. My sister in law came home yesterday (5/3/07)and said, "there's a lizard in the garage." I checked it out and sure enough, there was one of the largest and prettiest lizards I had ever seen. She wanted me to catch it and release it in the woods a street away from the house. So after finally cornering it, I was able to pick him up using some gardening gloves. He has a bright orangish red head and measures 9 inches head to tail. I decided to keep him and named him TEBOW (after my fav. college QB). I picked up a 20 gal. tank, a heating lamp, soft wood mulch for reptiles, some crickets and a few other things to make him feel at home. It took me forever to find out the species. I gave up last night, but today I googled burrowing lizards in southeast US and finally came across the Eumeces laticeps.
My son, daghter & myself caught one of these lizards. We put it in a small aquarium and fed it a beetle. My son wants to keep it, but I don't know how to take care of a lizard. If anyone has any ideas or knowledge of this subject, I would greatly appreciate it. Cindy from Jackson, TN
Thanks for visiting everyone, and thanks for sharing your encounters with these neat reptiles. I am glad I have helped some of you with their identification.
Cindy, my past experience with keeping wild animals for pets is that they usually don't fare too well. But I did it when I was child, so I'm not radically opposed to it or anything. This website states that they eat a large variety of insects, spiders and other invertebrates, so it should be fairly easy to find food for it. You might also need to get some kind of terrarium for it. I would probably just ask someone at a pet store for help.
I have just seen one in my backyard and anyone who is wishing to have one is welcome to come get mine!
Debbie in SC
We have a broad headed skink that accidentally got in our storage closet...How do you get it out of the closet without hurting it??I know their not poisonous but im terrified of it!!LOL!
My husband just brought one home last night. It is in a cage/terrarium right now with a light and a plant and some soil... I'm not sure if we can keep it though. My husband and I thought it was a salamander and our son kept yelling us that it was a skink. He was right. LOL
I'm scared to death of it - it bit my husband when he was catching it.
It is missing part of its tail too. Poor thing. =(
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h156/JENNIFER2375/salamander/salamander002.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h156/JENNIFER2375/salamander/salamander003.jpg
Jennifer - South Texas
Thanks for stopping by Jennifer. I saw the photo's URL where you had called it a salamander in your photo album, but you've got it now. Oh well, I guess that is what the internet is for. Happy Herping!!!
Hello,
I saw one of those skinks this morning in Lexington, SC. Amazing!! Found your website as well while researching its identification. Lovely! My Husband and son were just as captivated. Thanks for the pics and info!!
okay...After some searching on the internet, I have determined that I have a FAMILY of "skinks" living in the garage and landscaping on the side of my house. GROSS. I know that they are hamless, but I am so grossed out. Now I have read that they can lay up to 22!!! eggs??!! what? I have seen the huge male, my husband has seen the smaller striped female and I saw a blue-tailed one in the landscaping. AHHH. It is not that I mind so much ONE of them, but what am I going to do about the upcoming infestation in the garage??? I saw where the male went in a crack in the drywall and concrete, but there is really no way to close it up. AHHH. I am just thinking that I could maybe deal with 1 of these things, but after the "hatchlings", I will have an infestation on my hands and I cannot handle that. Oh well, what the heck am I suppposed to do? All you "skink" lovers, come to Charleston, SC and take one as a pet from my garage!!!!!
I cannot believe anyone would think these pretty lizards are gross. Hey - they eat bugs. Will that help you like them more?
My dog caught one of these yesterday and I thought it was dead and threw it in the trash. Later when I went to throw something away I saw it move, so I got it out and gave it some water. It drank a little but appears to be badly injured. It won't even open its eyes. If you can help me save it my email is teripop@yahoo.com. Thanks.
I now have one in my kitchen because he got hurt really bad. One of his hind legs is broken. The Broad Head Skink lost a battle with the tractor. Short story the guys brought him in and I get to make him better before we turn him loose. Moths, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, will the eat meal worms?
I now have one in my kitchen because he got hurt really bad. One of his hind legs is broken. The Broad Head Skink lost a battle with the tractor. Short story the guys brought him in and I get to make him better before we turn him loose. Moths, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, will the eat meal worms?
We've had these things around our home in rural Fulton County, Illinois, for years, but we we're calling them salamanders. Unfortunately, one got in the house several days ago. I went down the (finished) basement and it darted out and stopped in the middle of the floor. I wish I would have had the presence of mind to capture it, but instead I screamed like a sissy and ran upstairs to tell my husband. My husband and daughter have tried unsuccessfully to capture it to release it outside, but can't get the job done. Now, I think it may be dead, because we haven't seen it in a couple of days. Poor little skink. Any ideas on capturing this without harming it? We're tried using an aquarium fish net.
Sorry Terri and Maryanne, I don't know about caring for injured skinks other than supplying the basic needs. As far it goes for the skink in the Illinois house, I would just move furniture and other objects until it is uncovered, if you think it is still in the house. Keep in mind though that as I noted above, they are not poisonous, but they may bite if handled.
Great pictures. I have one who took up residence in my finished basement in Nashville. I first spotted him about six weeks ago and he seems to be very healthy (and a little plump) living on the camel crickets that seem to get in my basement. He is a male. You can tell this from the red coloring on the head, so I am not too worried about having a bunch more. We named him spot (after the dragon that lived under the stairs in the munsters). I have put out a shallow plate of water and keep it filled near where he likes to rest (on top of my wireless router- guess he likes the heat). He seems to be doing well and keeps the insect population down, so I am happy to share my basement with him. I was not sure what he was until I found your blog doing a google search trying to identify him.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can anyone help!! I live in a caravan with a canvas annexe and i keep having a skink come in the annexe.. is there anything i can do to prevent it coming in or near my place as it is becoming a real worry as i wont go out the caravan while it is in the annexe as i am too scared to.. Are they dangerous or do they hurt you?? people tell me that they will run away from you but not this one it comes towards me.. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated, Thanks Jane
I just moved here to Tennessee, and made the mistake of trimming a hedge. Turns out the hedge is home to a considerable amount of these Broadhead skinks as well as a few skinks with metallic blue tails. I think those are the 5 lined ones.
Columbia Tennessee
We must have,or did have, a large population in our back yard because in the last week the cats have killed 4 large males. I just rescued a 5th and am not sure what to do with it. I have the yard fixed so the cats can't get over the fence. Do you think it will come back in if I release it on the other side of the fence or should we release it farther away?
Sorry Carole, I don't have a good answer for that. Maybe some other visitors can pitch in some good advice. Personally, I probably would not go to too much trouble to relocate it and would just let it go on the other side of the fence when the cat wasn't watching.
5/22/09
I saw one in my wood pile today while taking the puppy out. I didn't know what it was so I did a search on Tennessee Lizard Red Head. I was afraid it might be poisonous, since the head is a deep red and looks like a snake.
It's nice to know that it's not poisonous. Still, I plan to wear gloves the next time I have to gather wood. I would not want to have an infestation of these in my house or garage. This must be mating season because the head is a scary color red. He's a good nine inches long, olive body and I see nothing "pretty" about him at all.
We have what apppears to be both the broad ehaded and 5 lined skinks in our flower bed. They have burrowed under our sidewalk and actually caused it to buckle. We have tried (in the off season) to fill it in with concrete and now this season they have found a new spot under our sidewalk to burrow (actually under our front porch steps). There are at a minimum 30 of them scurrying around. I don't mind them so much, but I do not want them tearing things up. I can only assume it's the large number of them in one area that is causing the problem. Is there any way to shoo them away. What should my concerns be with so many of them?
hello i live in Ava Missouri and seen this lizard and i cought it and it gave me a love bite its head was bright redish ans my kids wanna keep it but i turned loose in the woods behind my house i have never seen one of these in my life until now pretty cool looken lizard.
Post a Comment
<< Home