• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • DONATE
  • SHOP
The Land Between

The Land Between

Explore - Learn - Inspire

  • About
        • Our Story
          • Our Goals
          • How We Operate
          • Staff and Council
          • Our Impact
          • Join Our Team
          • Partners and Supporters
        • About The Land Between Bioregion
          • Sacred Ecology
          • Natural Habitats
          • Wildlife & Species At Risk
          • People and Place
  • Projects
    • Blue Lakes
    • Working Watersheds
    • Turtle Guardians
    • Bird Buddies
    • Agwaamtoon Mshkiikii – Protecting Medicines
    • Native Gardens
    • Special Projects
  • Learning Centre
    • Consultation, Engagement, and Honouring Our Shared History
    • Living in the The Land Between
    • Invasive Species: Phragmites
    • Knowledge Circles
    • Community “Talks”
    • Regional Research
  • Get Involved
    • Wildlife Diary- Report a Species
    • Discover/Volunteer
    • Shop The Store
    • Donate
    • Work With Us
  • News & Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Camps
    • TLB Blogs
    • The Skink Newsletter

Five-Lined Skink – Species At Risk in the Land Between

You are here: Home / Five-Lined Skink – Species At Risk in the Land Between

Status:

Special Concern in Canada since 2007, Special Concern in Ontario since 2009.

Species Identification:

The five-lined skink is the only lizard endemic (found no where else in Canada) to Ontario. This small lizard (usually around 5-8.6 cm snout to vent) has five cream coloured lines running lengthwise down its body. Their characteristic blue tail is actually only present in juveniles or mature young females and is used to attract predators away from their heads in cases of attack. When threatened, the skink will drop its tail which is can later regenerate. As the five-lined skink matures, its colours tend to fade into a duller brown/light brown (including those of its tail).

Diet:

The five-lined skink is an active hunter which eats mostly invertebrates  primarily targeting arachnids and crickets. Five-lined skinks hunt their prey using their eyesight as well as a sense of "smell". These lizards, like many reptiles "smell" by flicking their tongue in and out of their mouth which allows them to picks up chemical signals similar to the way a mammal nose works.

Habitat: Where do they live?

The five-lined skink is widespread in eastern North America, being found from Florida and Texas in the south to Minnesota and Ontario in the north. Within Ontario Skinks have two population ranges: Carolinian forests in Southwestern Ontario (around Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron) and the Canadian Shield (around the Great Lakes-St.Lawrence) where they are found in the Land Between. The five-lined skink typically resides in habitats with rocky outcrops, sand dunes, prairies (less than 10% tree cover), savannas (less than 30% tree cover) or open canopy forests that contain early successional vegetation. These little beauties are usually seen on open rock barrens or outcrops that have cover rocks present; however they spend most of their time hidden relaxing under wood or rocks. Having access to woody debris is very important for species presence and is negatively correlated with human disturbance. Such debris and rock cover is very important in allowing skinks to maintain healthy body temperatures (in all seasons). If such characteristics of microhabitats are removed it is very hard for skinks to find new suitable habitat because they only travel a maximum of 100 meters are year, with average distance traveled being  much lower than that.

Behaviour and life cycle:

Five-lined skinks in the Georgian Bay population emerge from hibernation in early May and are active until late September-October (depending on seasonal temperatures). Breeding generally occurs in spring with females often breeding with multiple males which together father separate eggs in one clutch. Females then lay 9-10 eggs under a thin layer of soil/lichen, logs or rocks. They will stay with these eggs and protect the nest until eggs hatch in 4-6 weeks. Juvenile skinks reach sexual maturity during their second spring and typically live about 5 years in the wild, but have been reported to reach ages up to 10 years.

Threats:

Habitat loss is the greatest threat to skink populations as they require very specific ecosystem characteristics to survive. Increased predation due to proximity to humans is also an issue which leads to subsidized predation by wild animals (like raccoons and skunks who have higher populations around human settlements) and predation by domesticated animals like dogs and cats. Additional threats include:

  • Disturbance
  • Illegal collecting
  • Road Mortality

Want Five-Lined Skinks on your property?

Consider providing habitat by leaving woody debris and allowing it to decay on site rather than collecting and removing it. In addition, do not allow your cat or dog outside without a leash or tether.

Interested in teaching your class or children about skinks? Check out this awesome activity by the Frontenac Arch Bioreserve!

 

Works cited:

Howes, B. J., & Lougheed, S. C. (2004). The importance of cover rock in northern populations of the five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus). Herpetologica, 60(3), 287-294.
Sowers, R. (2018). The effects of biogeographic factors on the persistence and distribution of the common five-lined skink in Southern Ontario (Doctoral dissertation).

 

  • Home
  • The Region
  • The Charity
  • Shop
  • Donate

 

 

The Land Between is a National Charity #805849916RR0001.

Your support helps us celebrate, conserve, and enhance this important region. You can reach us at:

P.O. Box 1368, Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0
705-457-1222 | info@thelandbetween.ca

We respectfully acknowledge that The Land Between is located within Williams Treaty 20 Mississauga Anishinaabeg territory and Treaty 61 Robinson-Huron treaty territory, in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg. We respectfully acknowledge that these First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.

Copyright © 2022 The Land Between