On a field trip last fall with the Cornell Herpetological Society, several Land Trust members were treated to looks at seven adult and two juvenile northern coal skinks. Much like desert lizards, northern coal skinks lounge in the sun to raise their body temperature on cool days. They live in moist woodlands near streams or ponds. Now there’s a distraction!Ĭoal skinks feed primarily on insects, centipedes, spiders, and worms.

One account I read reported that even after a juvenile jettisoned its blue tail, the tail kept on wriggling. If threatened, skinks, like many other lizards, detach their tails to confuse predators. Females lay four to eleven eggs as early as late April, or as late as the end of June. Breeding males, on the other hand, have a distinctive brick-red tint around their chin and throat. Young skinks are more intensely colored than adults, sporting iridescent blue tails. Baird named this species in 1850, perhaps he was happy that he hadn’t found a larger lizard! Thinner white bands beautifully offset those coal-dark bands against a light brown or grayish background. “Eumeces” means “nice length or height” in Greek.

But unlike snakes, skinks and other lizards can close their eyes.Įumeces anthracinus anthracinus, the coal skink’s scientific name, refers to the anthracite-coal-colored band that runs along its body from snout to tail tip. Their bodies-about five to seven inches long-are glossy, like some snakes. Instead of having keeled scales and a rough, dry appearance, coal skinks, as well as five-lined skinks, have smooth scales. Northern coal skinks look much different from most lizards. According to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s most recent New York State Amphibian and Reptile Atlas, you can find coal skinks in Chemung, Tioga, Schuyler, Steuben, Tompkins, Seneca, Yates, and Ontario Counties. The range of the northern coal skink, however, includes parts of the Finger Lakes Region. New York’s other three lizards-the five-lined skink, the Italian wall lizard, and the northern fence lizard-live only in the southeastern part of the state.

Find lounging lizards the stellarium