Reduced aggression toward territorial neighbors relative to strangers, the dear enemy phenomenon, is a widespread occurrence in many taxa, presumably because a stranger represents more of a threat to a resident than a neighbor. We recorded the response of 12 adult, nonreproductive, female Crotaphytus collaris residents to tethered neighbors or size-matched strangers and found no significant difference between responses to neighbors and strangers. Given that the dear enemy phenomenon is advantageous only to highly territorial individuals that stand to lose a great deal to a stranger, but not a neighbor, and that costs of territoriality may change with the reproductive cycle, we argue that there are no favorable conditions for the dear enemy phenomenon to evolve in this population of female collared lizards.