Found this guy in our backyard a few days ago. I had to get him out before we let the dog out, or he would try to eat him. This is a fairly avg sized iguana we have some that our bigger. These things are all over south florida, but especially love the area around my house for some reason.
That would be cool! My dad has to deal with small alligators in his golf course that they live on but they move them after they are located. I don't think they have ever talked about these fellas!
My gawd! ; These are beautiful animals, but the thought of finding one in my yard here in Canada is incomprehensible! ; Not unless it was someone's pet that got away.
They are pretty. ; And basically harmless, though they can get quite big. ; Worst thing about them is that they love to eat flowers and decorative plants, and the way they return the eaten plants to you. Nice colors on that one...I like when they go orange. ; Bright green tends to be juvenile, orange tends to mean breeding time, black means they are scared. Here's a young'un in my yard: And here's a biggie - this one was a bit over 5-feet from chin horn to tip of tail: Personally...I like them. ; Always been a reptile fan.
I know I've read about this before, but I still can't quite grasp the concept that iguanas are running around wild in Florida. ; I seem to have them stubbornly mentally defined as an animal that doesn't live wild anywhere in the continental US.
Nice catches guys- especially that last one Justin. ; I guess I live north of the Iguana Line. (whew!)
Not for long Jeff - they're expanding at a very rapid pace! ; They supposedly started in Florida at Boca Raton around the mid-1950s...no known cause, but could have been either stowaways from a South or Central American boat, or released pets. ; Either way, they absolutely loved the climate and terrain here, and apparently it was a romantic setting too, because they breed like...well, iguanas! ; By 1990, they had punched into the Everglades, down the intercoastal to Miami, and north a few cities. ; A second group popped up on the west coast of Florida - noone knows if they traveled across the glades or were transported there - but they began filling in all around Craig's section in the southwest of Florida. ; Now, they are well entrenched throughout Florida south of Lake Okeechobee...and pretty much inevitable that they have to go north to expand, since they've filled in the south. ; so they're working their way north...They've been spotted as far as the southern Orlando corridor, though in very small numbers so far. ; Apparently, they won't likely go much farther north than that - the climate isn't consistently warm and tropical enough. ; They really don't like cold, and the Orlando area and north gets a little chilly for them on winter nights. Even more fun news - nile monitors have been spotted in the wild near the fringes of the southern Everglades. ; While iguanas are basically harmless, just eating flowers...Nile monitors get bigger and are meaner - nasty bites and a violent tailwhip, and up to 7 feet long. ; That, and the 20+ foot long burmese pythons are starting to make the fauna down here quite interesting!
Well I am North of Tampa- directly West of Orlando. ; A lot of tropical plants and critters seem to stop somewhere between Tampa and Sarasota on the gulf coast- so hopefully those chilly nights will keep them at bay for a few more years. ;
I think finding one of these in my backyard would be great! ; The nile monitor on the other hand, can stay in the glades. ; Thanks for posting, and when you get that photo of the nile monitor, please be sure to share it.
I'm still waiting for a chance to snag a photo of a basilisk lizard. ; I've seen them a few times, but darn are they fast and skittish, so I haven't yet had a camera at the ready when spotting them. For those that don't recognize the name, the basilisk lizard is nicknamed the 'Jesus Christ Lizard' as it does a pretty nifty job of running on water by rotating its back legs around like big paddlewheels, standing upright on just the back feet, and using the tail as a rudder of sorts to stabilize. ; It's hilarious to see - and someday I'm gonna photograph one in action!
Another common sight along the highways... ; I see plenty on my way to and from TLH when I'm visiting (sad picture, but true-to-life). Are armadillos as common as iguanas in Florida?
About the iguanas or the armadillos? ; LOL! ; It seems that these creatures lack the smarts not to come out on to the highways, but from my experience driving in California, deer like to come out because they're attracted to the headlights of passing cars at night, and therefore there ends up being a lot of roadkill. ; I guess iguanas have a little more street sense because you never see them getting squished (at least if I did, I didn't realize it was an iguana) but the armadillos are everywhere so they're kind of hard to miss. ; To this day I've never hit one, but I travel to Florida often so it's only a matter of time.
I've got a new backyard visitor... Armadillos are getting kind of scarce down here in South Florida - too many have been getting squished in the roads lately! ; I see many more up around Disney than I do down here. ; Opposums on the other hand...well we've got tons of those! ; And Raccoons. ; Smart buggers are lounging out in my pool at night - I always find footprints leading up to the first step in my pool, then a new set of foot prints walking out the other side of the step. ; I've only caught one in my pool once, when I happened to be passing by the sliding door late at night and noticed one in there. ; Can't blame them...it is hot around here lately. I've been seeing a new backyard visitor this month too - a large green, yellow, and black lizard that at first I thought was just another iguana, until I took a closer look at the yellow stripes and black back, plus a pinkish belly...and realized that wasn't any iguana! ; It's another invasive species called a Knight Anole, native of Cuba, that can get to around 2 1/2 feet: This guy was still a little small - maybe about 14 inches or so...but still big enough to be quite noticeable compared to our usual little 4-inch lizards!
Armadillos. Here's a news article from late 2006. ; They had reached Illinois at that point. ; No telling how far they've infiltrated since then. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00545.html
