4 Types of Lizards in North Carolina You’re Most Likely to See
September 16, 2026
Spot a small reptile darting across a fence post or sunbathing on a porch rail in North Carolina, and there’s a good chance it belongs to one of just a handful of species. The state is home to a dozen native lizards, and none of them are venomous, which makes backyard identification a low-stakes hobby rather than a safety concern.
This guide covers the four types of lizards in North Carolina that homeowners, hikers, and gardeners encounter most often: the green anole, the six-lined racerunner, the eastern fence lizard, and the brown anole, an invasive newcomer reshaping how the native species behave. For the complete roster of native and introduced species found statewide, check the full guide to lizards in North Carolina.
Not every legless reptile in North Carolina is a snake, either. Three glass lizard species shed their tails and slither like snakes but are true lizards underneath, so if you want to sort those out too, the guide to snakes in North Carolina is a useful companion read.
| Species | Typical Size | Best Identifier | Where to Look |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Anole | 5–8 inches | Color-changing skin, pink throat fan on males | Trees, shrubs, fences statewide |
| Six-lined Racerunner | 6–9.5 inches | Six pale stripes, blue belly on males | Sandy, open ground in sun |
| Eastern Fence Lizard | 4–8 inches | Rough, keeled scales; blue belly patches | Logs, fence posts, pine woods |
| Brown Anole (invasive) | 5–8.5 inches | Mottled brown pattern, orange-red dewlap | Urban and coastal yards |
1. Green Anole
The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) is the lizard most North Carolinians picture first, and for good reason. According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, green anoles are diurnal, slender lizards typically measuring between 5 and 8 inches (12.5–20 cm), tail included, and they possess adhesive toe pads that help them climb walls, fences, shrubs, and trees.
Their most famous trait is color-shifting skin. Their coloring ranges from vivid green to brown or gray, and sometimes includes darker streaks or spots; females and juveniles often display a light stripe along the spine. Males show off a pink or reddish throat fan called a dewlap during territorial disputes, a feature that separates them at a glance from the invasive species covered later in this guide.
Green anoles are common enough in the pet trade that many hobbyists get their start with a wild-caught or captive-bred individual before moving on to more demanding species. If you’re curious how anoles compare to other beginner-friendly reptiles, the roundup of popular pet reptiles covers several similar options.
Fun fact: the green anole is the only anole species native to North Carolina. Every other anole spotted in the state, including a Cuban lookalike, arrived through human activity rather than natural range expansion.
Pro Tip: If a green anole you’ve spotted has a solid, unpatterned green or brown body and a pink dewlap, it’s almost certainly the native species. Mottled brown coloring with darker markings usually points to the invasive brown anole instead.
2. Six-lined Racerunner
The six-lined racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineatus) earns its name honestly. Per the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s species profile, eastern North Carolina’s six-lined racerunner averages between 6 and 9½ inches in length, with a body featuring six pale stripes in yellow, white, gray, or light blue running from neck to tail, and adult males display a blue belly while juveniles share the same striping pattern.
Speed is this lizard’s defining behavior. These fast-moving, ground-dwelling lizards never climb trees and can reach speeds up to 18 mph, making them hard to catch. When threatened, they move quickly across open terrain and will dart into vegetation, under rocks or into burrows if threatened, which earned them their name.
Racerunners prefer sun-baked, open terrain over shady forest floors. They prefer ground-level habitats in open, sunny areas with sandy or loose soil such as fields, dunes, forest clearings, and floodplains across much of North Carolina including the Piedmont and central to southern Coastal Plain. Breeding activity peaks in spring, and courtship and breeding take place in spring through early summer (April–June), during which males develop deeper blue coloring under their bodies, while females lay between two and eight eggs in shallow burrows or sawdust piles, with hatchlings emerging from late June to early September.
Their diet leans heavily on ground-level insects. These lizards are active insect hunters, consuming grasshoppers, spiders, caterpillars, beetles, and other arthropods. Anyone tracking backyard insect populations may recognize some of the same prey species covered in the guide to beetles found in North Carolina.
Racerunners aren’t invincible despite their speed. According to the Wikipedia entry on the species, red imported fire ants are a predator of the six-lined racerunner, an unusual threat for a lizard built for outrunning larger animals.
Important Note: Racerunners are frequently confused with skinks because both are fast, striped, and ground-dwelling. The racerunner’s whip-thin tail and constant, jittery movement across open sand or bare dirt are the easiest field clues.
3. Eastern Fence Lizard
The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) stands out as the state’s only rough-scaled native lizard. It is the state’s only native lizard that appears rough or spiny, and it is identified easily on that basis, making the fence lizard one of the most common and widespread lizards in North Carolina.
Males and females look noticeably different. As their name suggests, eastern fence lizards are commonly seen perched on fence posts, logs, and rocks, and males grow up to 8 inches long and have greenish-blue patches on their belly and throat during breeding season, while females and juveniles are brown or gray with a light stripe down the center of the back.
Diet and daily habits follow a predictable pattern. Found statewide, these active foragers feed on insects, spiders, and snails, and when threatened they rely on camouflage and speed to escape predators, preferring open habitats with plenty of basking spots including forests, fields, and suburban parks. Hawks and other raptors take advantage of any lapse in that camouflage, so readers interested in the predators overhead might enjoy the guide to hawks found in North Carolina.
Fence lizards are creatures of habit when it comes to foraging. Eastern fence lizards eat twice per day, and their diet is made up of insects like ants, beetles, and grasshoppers, and they are foragers, which means they’ll leave their homes searching for food but often return to the same general area at night.
One of the more interesting recent shifts involves where fence lizards spend their time. The introduction of the Brown Anole has altered their behavior, making them almost exclusively arboreal, a change that sets up the final species in this guide.
4. Brown Anole (invasive)
The brown anole (Anolis sagrei) is not native to North Carolina, but it has become common enough in urban and coastal areas that most residents will encounter one eventually. Several non-native species have established populations, particularly in urban and coastal areas, with notable examples including the Mediterranean House Gecko, Tropical House Gecko, Brown Anole, Indo-Pacific Gecko, and occasionally the Texas Horned Lizard, which appears through human introduction.
Telling a brown anole apart from the native green anole comes down to pattern and posture more than color alone, since green anoles can also turn brown. Unlike the invasive Brown Anole, the Green Anole has unpatterned, uniform coloring and a more elegant appearance. Brown anoles typically show mottled or diamond-shaped markings along the back that the native species lacks.
Competition between the two species has real consequences for the native population. A third possible reason for this lizard’s decline is the introduction of the brown anole from Cuba, according to research highlighted by The Swamp School. Where the two overlap, green anoles increasingly retreat to higher perches in trees and shrubs to avoid the more aggressive, ground-dwelling brown anole, mirroring the arboreal shift already seen in fence lizards.
Brown anoles thrive in the same disturbed, human-altered habitats that people create without meaning to. Green Anoles and Brown Anoles are common in urban environments, while skinks and racerunners are more likely to be seen in wooded or open sunny areas. That overlap in neighborhoods and landscaping means backyard sightings of brown anoles are becoming routine in much of the Coastal Plain and Piedmont, with range expansion tracked in neighboring states as well, including the lizard populations documented in Tennessee.
Common Mistake: Assuming any brown-colored anole in a North Carolina yard is simply a green anole “in its brown phase.” Check for the orange-red dewlap and mottled diamond pattern typical of brown anoles before ruling out the invasive species.
For readers who want the full taxonomic picture beyond these four species, including the state’s legless glass lizards and skinks, the Herps of NC lizard checklist organizes every documented species by family. The News & Observer’s coverage of North Carolina’s three legless lizards is also worth a look if the glass lizard group piqued your curiosity earlier in this guide.
Whether it’s the color-shifting green anole, the sprint-fast racerunner, the spiny fence lizard, or the invasive brown anole muscling in on native territory, these four species account for the vast majority of lizard sightings across North Carolina’s yards, trails, and coastal dunes. Learning to tell them apart takes only a few field markings, and once those clues click, spotting the next one becomes second nature. Gardeners and birdwatchers tracking the wider backyard ecosystem may also want to browse the guide to frogs found in North Carolina, since many of these lizards share the same damp, insect-rich habitats.