Do lizards eat fish? (Snake-like Pics)

[crispini]

So I have this pond:



It's not a really big pond and I have two small fish in it. Well. Maybe HAD is the right word. Because this morning when I go out to the pond I find this guy in the water. I gave him a lift out with a stick and he just sits there and I take this picture.



Now I can't find my fish. Do you think he ate them? He certainly looks big enough -- he's about five inches long. I thought he was a junior frog at first; his face is about as big as a frog's. He looked kind of full, too-- he just sort of sat there awhile before scooting off. I've never seen anything like him before -- what do ya'll think he is? He looks very snake-ish ... he even has a little forked tongue.

[short bus president]

1. it's more likely you lost the fish to a neighborhood cat

or a racoon seeking a midnight snack. The lizard is prolly hanging around the pond for the bugs.

[crispini]

2. Well, we certainly have both in this neighborhood.

He just was IN the pond... and he looked so... FULL. :P

[short bus president]

7. if it was in the water,

there's every possibility it couldn't get back out, and was bloated from a near-drowning. That would also explain the lethargy that enabled you to catch the skink - they're normally very quick.

[crispini]

11. Aw. Poor guy. Well I'm glad I saved him.

And I guess I'll stop blaming the missing fish on him.

It was one damn big lizard, I'll say that. Probably the biggest I've seen in the wild, (ha! My yard = "the wild" :eyes: ) at least five or six inches long. I see the little tiny skinks all the time, and you're right, they're MUY fast.

[sam sarrha]

3. it is a Skink... get bigger fish, the ones that can fight back

[crispini]

6. It's a BIG freakin Skink!

You're right, I've seen little skinks in my garden and this is colored exactly the same but they were all really small, no more than 2 or 3 inches long, and this is one Godzilla skink!

[sam sarrha]

10. i have seen garter snakes eating pollywogs in puddles, chasing them under

water

[crispini]

12. I have snakes too.

But I think they're grass snakes.

[Gildor Inglorion]

4. What a handsome fellow!

Some kind of skink, I imagine. I doubt that it eats fish, though.

[crispini]

14. Isn't he cute? nt

[RebelOne]

5. Looks like a salamander to me.

On edit: Nope, I think you all are right. It is a skink.

Did some googling. It does look like a five-lined skink. But it doesn't eat fish.

They are also always looking for a meal. Five-lined Skinks eat mostly insects, including: crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars. They also eat spiders, earthworms, snails, slugs, isopods, other lizards, and small mice.

[crispini]

15. MICE?

Damn.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Birds or cats

Herons and Owls will swoop right in and eat the fishies...

[crispini]

16. I'd agree.

Bird of some sort....

[trof]

9. Could be, or...do you have herons?

One of our neighbors built a beautiful pond and put some koi in it.
Took about two days for it to become the Great Blue Heron Free Buffet.

[crispini]

13. Haven't seen many herons, but we get egrets and so on.

Also raccoon and possum. Probably one of them ate the fish. I have koi in another pond and so far they have avoided the hunters...

[sam sarrha]

17. Its a Skink, and a nice one too, here's a photo and info.. .......link>

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/reptile/lizardsOfWisconsin6.htm

lizards jaws dont unhinge.. so if the fish couldn't fit in.. something else got them.

but this is your friend.. dont hurt him.. he lives there too..if you must..relocate him but they are wonderful animals. ans he will lang out where there is water.. it is great good fortune to have him.

[crispini]

18. I won't hurt him.

It's Skink Week! :silly: