Shortly after I moved here, one jumped on my foot, then ran up into my shorts. Luckily my backyard, where it happened, was secluded enough that I could extract it and not offend anyone.
Not even the little anole who skittered off into the bougainvillea.
I was surprised to find out that they are also invasive and not from here. Since they tend to be unobtrusive and not really harmful, I have a live and let live attitude with them.
In the case of this little one, it seemed to really want its picture taken. Basking on a fence post it had been living there all summer. There is a lot of traffic on that particular spot so I suspect it has gotten used to the fuss of being on display.
In general, they do good by keeping the insect population down. In fact I am sitting in my living room watching one eat a bug on the fence outside of my window right now.
When I described their antics to a friend Up North, she did not like that they were so common. Not to worry, they don't bite. In fact if they have teeth they aren't terribly sharp.
I have read stories of people keeping these in their apartments in big cities to keep the unwanted pest population down.
I will say that while I am gentle towards this type of animal and have a plastic cup I use to catch and release them outside, I neither have the insect population inside the house to keep them alive, nor the desire to find one in my rooms at strange hours.
Mind you, the black racer snake that got into the house caused a bit more fuss than the periodic visits of these anoles but that is a very different story indeed.
The snake seemed to take the hint and went back out of the back door when I opened it and went back to it's own life, whatever that might be.
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