I have titled this "Garden Skink" but checking my references seems to suggest that it's a different species - unless there's a lot of Garden Skinks that are much darker than the ones in the references. This is certainly the kind of skink I called a Garden Skink growing up in Sydney. He's about 15cm long. Photographed in Namadgi National Park, ACT.

[Bob Harris]

I just call them lizards, I like this dark capture, gives a snakelike appearance, makes a person do a double take.

[p38arover]

Nice shot, Rob. Plenty of them in our garden. Lovely little things.

[RobG]

I just call them lizards, I like this dark capture, gives a snakelike appearance, makes a person do a double take.

Thanks Bob! There's a much larger skink called a Land Mullet (I kid you not) which is easily mistaken for a Black Snake at first glance. This Garden Skink is tiny, though. I'll have to find a slide of a Land Mullet somewhere and scan it. No opportunity to photograph one now - they live much further north.

Nice shot, Rob. Plenty of them in our garden. Lovely little things.

I like them too, except when I'm nervous about snakes and they suddenly skitter through the leaves!

[slowpez]

Nicely captured. The dark does suit it as Bob mentioned. I have no idea what it is called but skink works for me.

[RobG]

Nicely captured. The dark does suit it as Bob mentioned. I have no idea what it is called but skink works for me.

Thanks Susan! I'm pretty sure that it is a common Garden Skink. Some reptiles have quite a bit of colour variation. From a distance they look dark grey-brown but up close the colour is more like a weathered bronze.

[OrchidJulie]

We have - or had - similar critters in south Florida. I remember them well from childhood, although they are quite rare here today. In fact last week or so there was a bit in the newspaper about a skink species thought to be nearly extinct in the Florida Keys. I'm fairly sure I saw one on the mainland a few years ago, but that's one in years and years, they used to be very common. We just called them skinks, I think there are several species. The one I saw a few years ago was a very dark, shiny charcoal gray with a bright pink and blue tail. My recollection is that we sometimes called them "glass" skinks, because when frightened, they can break their own tail right off (it grows back), leaving the wriggly thing behind to confuse a predator. Definitely, their heads are more snake-like than our other native lizards.

[RobG]

We have - or had - similar critters in south Florida. I remember them well from childhood, although they are quite rare here today. In fact last week or so there was a bit in the newspaper about a skink species thought to be nearly extinct in the Florida Keys. I'm fairly sure I saw one on the mainland a few years ago, but that's one in years and years, they used to be very common. We just called them skinks, I think there are several species. The one I saw a few years ago was a very dark, shiny charcoal gray with a bright pink and blue tail. My recollection is that we sometimes called them "glass" skinks, because when frightened, they can break their own tail right off (it grows back), leaving the wriggly thing behind to confuse a predator. Definitely, their heads are more snake-like than our other native lizards.

Yes, Garden Skinks are also able to lose their tails and grow them back. The one you describe with the colourful tail sounds fascinating!