Skink ID, please?

AneesasMuse

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One of the members on my orchid forum found a nice skink in her greenhouse. It looks like a Five lined or a Southeastern five lined.. hard to tell...

Skinky Linky since I didn't ask for permission to share the photo ;)

Thanks!
 

Galapoheros

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I'm pretty sure that's a Broadhead Skink. The Five-lined has 4 scales along the upper lip called labial scales. The Broadhead has 5 labials. It's hard for me to see in the pic but I think I see five labial scales in the pic on that skink.
 

AneesasMuse

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Thank you! That's very interesting... I don't come across too many folks who actually use the "scale counting" to decipher species. :)


~Aminah
 

Galapoheros

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Your welcome. Labial scale counting to figure out if you have a Broadhead or a Five-lined is a standard method, esp with the young ones. They look so much alike. I read that in some areas, Broadheads are called scorpions:confused: . I have a really old book that says people have seen them going up into trees and shaking the larvae out of wasp nests. Then going down the tree to eat the larvae. I've caught a lot of Five-lined but only one Broadhead. It was a snappy little sucker! I'm still not sure about the scale count but I think I see 5.

I should add that I've read the 5 labial count isn't a rule but is usually a characteristic of Broadheads.
 
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AneesasMuse

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I read that in some areas, Broadheads are called scorpions .
This is what they were called when I was a kid, still on our farm in GA... "scorpions". I never got it... they didn't look like scorpions. {D

I still left them alone, though... my Dad had beat me once upon a time for playing with a bunch of "real" scorpions. :rolleyes:
 

Galapoheros

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Ha, no wonder you went to SF. "scorpions".. these creative names seem to come out of the south. But I like the idea of a farm better than the city. Not really a serious farm but at least out in the county. I remember catching a Smallmouth salamander here in TX when I was a kid. This older man saw it in my hand. He freaked out and yelled at me telling me to put it down because they were poisonous. Parents sometimes lie to their kids to make them stay away from things. Then those kids turn into parents lying to their kids but the parents think it's the truth! Haha, kind of crazy.
 

AneesasMuse

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Parents sometimes lie to their kids to make them stay away from things. Then those kids turn into parents lying to their kids but the parents think it's the truth! Haha, kind of crazy.
This part worked in reverse on me {D


I have too many recollections of being yelled at or beat for playing with the "worms" (fresh hatchlings.. probably rattlesnakes) I found under a piece of old tin roofing.. the copperhead that the dogs mangled by the back door.. green snakes hanging in the bean poles (priceless when you're picking beans unaware).. "real" scorpions in the pasture... frogs, lizards, toads, turtles, salamanders..... everything you can imagine.

I think my GrandMa dreaded laundry days more than any woman... for fear of what she may find in my pockets. :D
 

Galapoheros

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HA! Yeah, me too. Same thing. My dad told me to stop looking for snakes when I was 10. I caught a Garter Snake. It was in a bucket and it let out a wimpy strike. Ha, he made me let it go because it opened it's mouth! But they finally gave up and I kept a lot of stuff in my room. One time my mom was in my room crying because she's a neat freak and I had a bunch animals in my room and it was a mess. Guess they put up with a lot:eek: .
 
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