through the leaf litter with undulating movements. It may dive under water when pursued, although normally avoids wet areas. It is largely diurnal, but may be active at night as well. It hibernates during the coldest months, but may be active in almost any month of the year in North Carolina (Palmer et al. 1995). As befits a tiny lizard, the home range of an individual may be as small as 20 square meters (Natureserve). Ground skinks exhibit tail autonomy when seized which distracts the predator and allows the ground skink to escape. The tail will later regrow. However, once the tail is dropped there is a marked drop in their escape speed (38 to 28 cm/s) and fleeing distance (152 cm with tail, 9 cm without tail). Males are more aggressive than females and are known to bite. Due to males being more aggressive, they often times have a larger head than females. This difference is known as sexual dimorphism and gives the males an advantage when competing for females, attacking larger females, and defending itself from predators. Diet The diet of the little brown skink consists of small insects, spiders, and other arthropoda, such as isopods. The active foraging of a ground skink is assisted by their ability to discriminate prey chemicals and "smells" by tongue-flicking. This is one of their two main methods of locating prey: visual and chemical senses. A visual incentive is associated with tongue flicking, orientation to the prey, and attack behavior. When the visual aspect of the prey is removed, then the amount of tongue flicking increases to an even greater rate. As prey Ground skinks are, in turn, preyed upon by snakes such as the eastern racer, ringneck snake, scarlet kingsnake and pigmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius). Predatory birds of woodland habitats, such as the barred owl and the red-shouldered hawk, also feed upon ground skinks. Even the eastern bluebird has been observed feeding on this tiny lizard (Palmer et al.2008, Robert Brooks 2009). To prevent predation ground skinks will use their cryptic coloration to hide, if that fails they will run away, as a final defence they will practice tail autotomy or tail dropping. Reproduction Sexually mature S. lateralis females lay small clutches of 1-6 (usually 2-3) eggs in moist soil, rotting logs, falling logs, or under rocks. Eggs are laid during the summer, March through August in the Southern United States.