Little is known concerning the kinds of predators that destroy five-lined skinks, or their importance in its ecology. In studies of the food habits of various predatory birds and mammals, workers often have been interested chiefly in items of direct economic bearing, and have tended to lump as "lizard" or "reptile" material that might have included _Eumeces fasciatus_. I have been able to find only a few specific references to predation on it. Nevertheless many kinds of predators probably utilize it as food, at least occasionally. Owls probably seldom have opportunity to prey on these skinks, which are not known to be active after dark. Nestling broad-winged hawks observed in 1954 were found to have eaten an adult and a subadult five-lined skink on June 13 and June 23. The Cooper's hawk and red-shouldered hawk also are probable predators as both are known to feed upon small reptiles. Mammalian predators which might be expected to take skinks occasionally include the red fox, gray fox, bobcat, mink, weasels, skunks, opossum, armadillo, moles, and shrews. Snakes, especially those of the genera _Elaphe_, _Lampropeltis_, _Cemophora_, _Micrurus_ and _Ancistrodon_, may include some of the chief predators on the skink. Certain larger lizards also may prey upon it. Of these several potential predators, only the opossum, armadillo, and snakes (_Elaphe obsoleta_, _E. guttata_, _Lampropeltis triangulum_, _L. calligaster_, _L. getulus_, and _Ancistrodon contortrix_), Sonoran skink and the greater five-lined skink (in confinement) have actually been recorded as preying on _Eumeces fasciatus_ but circumstantial evidence has been obtained for the mole (_Scalopus aquaticus_) and short-tailed shrew (_Blarina brevicauda_). The short-tailed shrew may be one of the major predators on the skink. This shrew prefers the same habitats and occurs throughout the skink's extensive range. Like the skink, it is a characteristic inhabitant of the hardwood forests of the eastern United States, but its range extends farther north and west. A high proportion of the skinks examined had scars, usually on the sides or dorsal surface of the body, or of the tail near its base--wounds which must have been made by a small, sharp-toothed animal. For example, in May 1951, eighteen per cent of 155 skinks captured on the study areas had such scars. The incidence seemed to vary according to age and possibly sex; the scars were present in 22.9 per cent of the adult males, 25.5 per cent of the adult females, and only 9.8 per cent of the yearlings (these three groups being represented by approximately equal numbers in the sample). As the scars are more or less permanent, adults could be expected to show a much higher incidence than young. Females, being inclined to stay in their nest burrows and defend them against small predators, may receive more wounds than the males, which are quicker to escape. None of the invertebrates present on the study area is