Eastern fence lizard

Description:

The eastern fence lizard can grow from 4 to 7.25 inches long. It is typically colored in shades of gray or brown, and has keeled scales, with a dark line running along the rear of the thigh. A female is usually gray and has a series of dark, wavy lines across her back. The belly is white with black flecks, with some pale blue on the throat and belly. The male is usually brown, and during the summer, has a more greenish-blue and black coloration on the sides of the belly and throat than the female has. The young look like the females, but are darker and duller. They closely resemble the western fence lizard, but differ slightly in coloration and live in a different area and habitat. It is sometimes referred to as the prairie lizard, fence swift, or gray lizard

Habitat:

The eastern fence lizard is found in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Southern Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Mississippi, Delaware, northern Florida, and southern New Jersey. There are isolated populations outside this range in southeastern New York. Found along forest edges, rock piles, and rotting logs or stumps in the eastern United States.

Notes:

Found along hiking trail on way to Abrams Falls in Cades Cove area of the Great Smokey Mountains national park.