The little brown skink is one of Florida’s smallest native lizards, and most people notice it only when something suddenly wriggles through mulch or dry leaves.

Also called the ground skink, it is usually only about three to four inches long and has a smooth, slender body with very small legs.

Its world is the layer right on top of the soil.

Ground skinks spend much of their time under leaf litter, rotting logs, loose bark and garden debris where they hunt insects, spiders and other tiny invertebrates.

The body is usually coppery brown to gray-brown, often with a darker stripe along each side.

Because the legs are so small and the body moves with a side-to-side wiggle, people sometimes mistake one for a tiny snake.

Unlike a snake, the skink has eyelids, ear openings and four small legs.

This species is native in Florida and has been documented in the state for generations.

It is also useful garden wildlife.

By hunting small invertebrates in mulch and leaf litter, little brown skinks are part of the natural pest-control system in wooded yards and gardens.

Keeping some leaf litter, logs and natural ground cover can preserve the microhabitat these lizards use.

A tiny brown lizard disappearing under leaves is not automatically a baby invasive reptile.

The Wild Suncoast clue: very small size, smooth bronze-brown body, tiny legs and a leaf-litter lifestyle point toward the native little brown skink.