I bought my house about 5 years ago and these exotic looking lizards have been here every summer. I’ve looked them up and i think I have italian ruin lizards. I know there not native but I’ve seen them chase crickets so I wanted to try and encourage there population to grow. Other then a water source I was wondering if anyone knew how and where they survived our harsh winters.
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It looks like a skink to me. We have a lot of native skinks.
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Neat looking critters! I’ve only skimmed this article, but there’s some good info on their history in NY. Maybe you’ll find some answers about their cold tolerance in there.
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When we were up swimming at a lake in central wi maybe 3 years ago and i saw a little lizard run up a pine tree. I had no idea we had them in this state. I guess there is a few of them. Up to that point i’d never seen one.
Yes, there are four lizard species native to Wisconsin. These are the six-lined racerunner , common five- lined skink , prairie skink , and slender glass lizard . None of Wisconsin’s native lizards are particularly common or widespread, although only the slender glass lizard is listed as Endangered in Wisconsin.
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skinks | New York State Parks Blog
Skinks and lizards are fairly rare in PA too. It looks like you have 3 that are native, but none resemble the one you have, at least from what I can tell.
I found this guy giving a tour at one of our water treatment systems in 2017. He (or she?) jumped on one of the tour members shirts and hung out for a while. It is a northern fence lizard, but it’s range stops about halfway through Pennsylvania.
Update : a friend found your lizard, it is not native.
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If it’s not native, I highly recommend not caring for them and encouraging them to survive. Non native animals are bad for natural ecosystems, just look at the reptiles in florida. Animals slightly outside of their range is different than an animal from another continent
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I have mixed feelings on invasive plants and animals. Honey bees is an invasive species. So are earth worms. Which has destroyed many an old growth forest.
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The way I see it I’m 90 miles from New York City my ecosystem is as far from natural that can be. They bring me joy and eat the insects that the natural birds would have eaten if only my neighbors put a bell on their cat. 
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Interesting article. Here’s quote from the article regarding invasive species concerns:
"Because many of the species eaten by wall lizards are also non-native, and many of their prey are considered garden pests, we could conclude that the lizards have no negative effect on the suburban ecosystems they currently inhabit on Long Island. "
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Oh that’s good to know
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Just watch out for the alligators in the sewers!
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You are so far north that lizards are not going to be any major part of the ecosystem, and since they seem to have been introduced and to have survived I wouldn’t worry too much about them being “bad”. We have plenty of the native eastern lizards down here so no worry about the natives dying out anytime soon.
The key to your lizards survival is really in their name. Rocks provide heat storage so that by wintering deep in under them, they never get too far below freezing. Rattlesnakes are famous for “denning” in the fall, in great numbers some places, generally singly here according to Tennessee’s rattlesnake researcher. I kept Florida chameleons (anoles) as pets when I was a kid, they were lots of fun. With luck you will get to see your lizards courting and the males posturing to show each other how tough they are. In anoles and our local skinks, the males are a little heavier built and the females a little daintier.
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Indeed a European wall lizard. They are quite common in my country. They like basking in the sun on stone walls…just soaking up the sun. They just love flies. The males get this striking green back that is even much more vibrant in the mating season. They hibernate and survive very low wintertemperatures.
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Thank you so much for putting that information in there for me I really enjoyed it the more information the happier I am. We just found this little guy I had no clue New York had lizards because how cold it gets in the winter, so now here on my off time I’m going to be studying up on lizards of New York have a great day once again thank you
Welcome and please share a little about your geographic location. Are you in the NY area?
we have lots of different types of salamanders here esp. along waterways. great fishing bait. not lizards though.
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Cool! My county is home to the furthest north colonies of native five lined skink. That’s a pretty impressive range if you think about it. For comparison, if I was in Maine I’d be smack in Aroostook county, and we’re close to the center of the continent besides.
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that’s why i follow your posts. if you can grow it so can i. im as north in Aroostook as you can go and i can see N.B from my living room window 
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If I didn’t live here, I’d live there. My heart’s in the northwoods.
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