Holy Anole!

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz

A few weeks ago I spied with my little eye something green moving in the oak tree outside my office window.

If I could see it from this distance, through the shutters and screen, I knew it was something out of the ordinary and you bet your sweet bippy I went in for a closer inspection.

Well, isn’t that special? We have lizards galore in Florida. Tons of them outside and some get inside; I swear there might be a Lizard Labor and Delivery in our master bath as I find babies all the time.

But THIS is a different lizard.

I sent pics in our family text thread and Lolo confirmed immediately that this is a Native Anole. (She wasn’t nick-named The Bug Girl as a kid for no reason) I said, I’ve seen anoles before, but never this big. She thought maybe I’d only seen females which can get up to 5″ but the males are 8″. I was thinking this might be a bit bigger than that, but didn’t give it another thought.

Then just two days ago I saw him again through the window and thought to myself that he must have taken up residence in that particular oak tree. No biggie.

On Sunday morning, I noticed something on top of my bird feeder under our cypress tree outside my other office window. Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Nope. It was huge and bright green!

I grabbed my cell phone and asked the Coach to come and see The Lizard. By the time he came to my office, the guy was gone. Man, he was BIG. Much bigger than the one I’d seen twice in the Oak tree and I went outside to locate the Giant.

It took me a minute to find him in the tree; he’s a blender. Can you see his HUGE eyeball? The better to see you with…

Ya’ll, this guy must be a foot long which led me to do a little bit of intel since This Anole reached 8″ and then said: Hold my beer.

INVASIVE IS MY LEAST FAVORITE SPECIES.

(I was today years old that I learned that you always say species and not specie; even in singular form)

In my research this guy is an Knight Anole which is Native to Cuba and invasive. I was curious to see what they eat…and I gasped upon learning: spiders, flies, crickets, small beetles, moths, butterflies, small slugs, worms, ants, and nesting birds. Um, we’re gonna need to enact a diet restriction on my property.

NOT SO FUN FACT: they can grow to 20″.

He didn’t care for my prying eyes…and the sun was bright and for a minute there I could not see where I was supposed to be looking.

Notice how he puffs out his dewlap at me. That either means he wants to fight or mate. Please let it mean fighting.

I also learned today that there is a name for the weird thing is under lizards’ necks. Dewlap.

Well, that’s the nature lesson for today, so excuse me while I try to figure out how to eradicate remove them from my vicinity because guess where butterflies roost at night? In trees. 😩

XOXO

28 thoughts on “Holy Anole!”

  1. While I recognize your horror over invasive butterfly eating species…. I must admit I’m looking forward to the plethora of lizard eviction posts to come.
    *helpful hint- don’t wear anything remotely sexy while evicting *

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  2. Hello, has PBS heard about you? The things I’m learning here: dewlap, when to use ‘species’, the names and diets of lizards that hail from Cuba, and most interestingly of all the fact that my friend is gifted with the vision of a super hero.

    How are you seeing that guy from inside your office if he blends so well?

    Think of how confused his actual lady friends must be, if he behaves the same when he wants to mate or fight. And some say human dating is tough.

    Maybe if you just keep taking his picture, he will scram. I hope so. Has he not heard that you are a butterfly habitat protector?

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    1. PBS! Nat Geo! TLC!
      When will my series take place? That is the question I often ask myself.

      Don’t you remember that I have special eyes? Like, laser vision?!

      I can only hope that I annoy the crap out of him and he moves on.
      OR that we have a deep freeze this winter and that does him (and his friends) in.

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  3. If you do not name it Cannoli or Anatoli, I’m really going to be disappointed. Or Spicoli, from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Or even Ravioli.

    I think you see where I’m going here.

    Obviously, you have to find a way to exterminate it if it’s invasive. Just be glad it’s not a Python. Those things would eat you and not just your butterflies.

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    1. I giggled at all your name suggestions, and let’s go with Azzhole Anatoli Anole.

      Good lord, yes, with the pythons. Those are an issue as well as Iguanas. Although the iguanas only eat your vegetation, pythons eat pets and humans. 😩

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  4. Oh, no! What resources do you have locally to help remove butterfly killers?! Is there a local “we remove/eradicate invasive lizard species” company like here in the Midwest we have entire companies devoted to helping us remove bats from our homes without killing them?

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    1. I don’t think the Knight Anole is enough of a threat to warrant a professional. Yet. Perhaps it’s just a significant threat to my doings here.

      I’ve heard about Bats getting into homes and setting up shop..as long as they don’t turn into vampires!

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  5. Ok waiting to see how you deal with this situation! I wonder what you would do to discourage them from hanging out without actually eradicating them! Your post made me laugh out loud and also was a great nature lesson!

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  6. M

    Holy anole is right! That lizard is huge!!

    Dewlap! We toured the Everglades 10yrs ago and I took a video of a lizard that was showing his beautiful orange “flap” because I was so fascinated! My then-college-aged smart nephew who took some cool classes where he learned and remembered such things told me what it was called, and I was like, “There’s a name for that?” But now that you said that about what it means when they are showing their dewlaps makes me less excited about that seeing that guy’s dewlap! LOL

    I hope you can find a way to evict them! Not only are they not paying rent (like our tenants to whom we finally gave eviction! Ha!) but they’re also trying to siddle up to the buffet!!! No-no-no!!

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    1. I’ve practically grown up with lizards as they are ALL OVER FLORIDA, and I just learned that weird neck thing had a name. You were ahead of me.

      Tenants who don’t pay rent are also an invasive species. 😳

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  10. Yikes! Looks like you’ve got a big problem on your hands. My brother-in-law, who lives in the Florida Keys, is currently battling invasive green iguanas trying to establish residence in his home’s foundation. Good luck discouraging this knight anole and protecting your butterflies and birds!

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    1. The iguanas on the East Coast are horrific. EVERYWHERE. I am seeing them over on our coast more often now too.
      About 15 years ago, we had a large (about 3ft) iguana in our yard that an acquaintance removed. I think he was going to make it a pet…not sure how that worked out.
      The good thing is that when we do get a freeze, (that happens about every other winter) it can decimate a lot of these invasive lizards.

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        1. I think the Keys are unlikely for a freeze.
          Am I a poet?
          Where our home is located we are just far enough east of the gulf that we do get a freeze now and again.

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