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Sarasota News Leader April 12, 2013 After Mr. Bored parked and walked to the citrus grove in search of a Meyer lemon tree, I hopped out of my compartment and into the woods. Early in the morning, it is not unusual to see an Eastern Screech Owl (that's me!) hopping on the ground, hunting for insects. I heard a rustling in a pile of dead leaves and rotting wood and as I honed in on it, I saw that it was an immature Skink, tiny to people but just the right size for me. Page 79 red head during mating season. When threatened, skinks' tails turn a shade of blue. Skinks are fast-moving creatures, but so am I. I hopped in full pursuit of the skink, deeper into the woods. That is when I was magically transported to India. I saw my first feral peacock in full breeding plumage. The unexpected sight of his beauty took my breath away. He stood atop a dirt mound, serenely surveying his lek, that domain a peacock establishes The Five-Lined Skink is a beneficial Florida during mating and brooding season. Behind native insectivorous lizard. On Siesta Key, him, I spotted four peahens, a part of his habecause of predation by the invasive Cuban rem, scurrying into the thick undergrowth. brown anoles, iguanas and tegus, skinks have A group of peafowl is most commonly called a become so rare that when people do spot one, "pride" or "ostentation." Both of these very apthey assume it is a baby iguana or tegu. In- propriate terms reminded me of the account deed, the skink is an unusual looking crea- in Herodotus' Histories of Croesus and Soture, particularly the male when he sports a lon. Croesus was the Lydian king of ancient A Five-Lined Skink. File photo