This was the first salamander lizard we saw on the trip. Apparently there are something like 30 types of salamander in the Smoky Mountains.
Camera didn’t like trying to focus on the face in this one, so it breaks the one rule of animal photography and doesn’t have the eye in focus.
Picture taken with Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm @ 135mm, 1/100 sec, f/11, ISO 400
Edit – the presence of scales say this is definitely *not* a salamander as originally titled, but some variety of lizard. Salamanders would have smooth skin more like a frog.
Edit 2 – best guess is that this is a Ground Skink or a Coal Skink.
