Several of the skinks have blue tails as young but only the Five-lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus, in our area has this beautiful blue contrasting with the cream and deep brown stripes above. The tail is detachable and I suppose that blue is a lure to keep predators from striking something more critical. It is hard to grab these young guys without them dropping that tail as a wriggling decoy behind them. The adult Five-lineds lose the marked blue color.

 

A near adult who still has quite a fine blue tail. He was totally relaxed on this log for many photos. Seemed to be basking in one sunstruck spot here at Lorance.

And a very large blue tailed juvie. This must be one big male in the making. He was already over six inches.

And this is the adult male Five-lined. He has just had a large cricket snack. Note the red facial blush.

This is the Broadhead Skink, Eumeces laticeps, basking on a stone plain of some sort. Males have the facial flush and can get quite large for skinks. Skittish. Those big jaws can pinch.

The lazing days of spring. And we forget the lizards of the world have to put up with insect irritations. This skink actually had three ticks attached behind his front leg as well. He did not seem to care about any of it. And he could have eaten the mosquito if he wanted, I guess.

This was the largest Broadhead I had ever seen. And the big males are our second largest in NA. Largest we have. This one was 12 inches from nose to tail measured out on my camera strap (I grabbed him after this shot). Note this one has ten ticks behind the arm, perhaps a measure of the summer tick season to come. Very good climbers, this one is on the side of a tree.

 
This one was so large on the front sidewalk at Round Mountain I decided it was a female Broadhead and not a Five-lined. I could not catch this fast beast. But what a fine female. 
 

The best lizard shot I have ever taken in spring of 2020 right before I ordered my new camera. Pair of Broadheads on my woodpile with a stunning male even more reddened than the big male above. These both equaled that giant that I have pictured above at 12 inches or more. Likely foreplay activity here. And she may have subsequently nested in the rotted wood of my pile. I did not see either of them after this day.   
 

Then these in the summer of 2020. After the above pair of Broadheads. The first hatchling I have seen this close to the egg at about 1.5 inches or less with tail. I nor Dennis Paulson had ever seen any sized skinklet with no stripes. And they are both striped and blue tailed in larger sizes. I have decided based on this animal that the Broadhead actually has a very early post-hatch period where it is stripeless with these head markings.   
Same summer of 2020 just a few weeks later and these present and just barely longer than the above skink. Perhaps there is a difference in the two species for a brief time before they achieve 3 or 4 inches.
Just a bit later in 2020 and this 3 incher with some expanding orange markings but still no stripes.   

Possibly the commonest skink in Arkansas. The Ground Skink, Scincella lateralis. Can be found nearly anywhere though it generally hunts in leaf litter. Tolerant of humans and loves their dwellings.

Not a skink, obviously. Florida is the land of Anoles and this is a Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, from the peninsula. They are abundant there. It is also the only Anole that makes it into Arkansas. The map cuts across up to about the middle of the state. This one certainly appears to be checking the flower cup for possible snacks. This pose suggests a larger brain than they actually have. But they are fast and sometimes difficult to catch. They love human dwellings and especially screened porches of any type.

They can appear all brownish. This one was in transition. Note the unique scaling pattern for an Arkansas lizard. And that separately mobile eye.

A female with a very fine facial intelligence. She appeared to be deciding if I was worth any effort at all at leaving.

A Ouachita county individual where they were coming out on the downed pines in April and sunning. This is likely a male in brown mode.