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The Return of the Anole


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2019 Sep 28, 2:44pm   1,394 views  17 comments

by Tenpoundbass   ➕follow (7)   💰tip   ignore  

I moved to South Florida in the mid 80's. It was the Golden age of the boat culture down here, that Miami Vice often depicted.
Down by the Inter-coastal near the boat ramps, State parks on the water, and the Dockside Bars and Restaurants. I would occasionally see a species of Lizard, that I would only find near the water. The Hispaniolan curlytail lizard. I thought they were interesting Lizards, look like a Skink with a tail that curls up over their back. I thought they were interesting, because we didn't see them in our yards further inland West a mile from the Inter coastal waterway. I never gave them much of a thought after that. Until a few years back, they started popping up in odd random places, going further and further out west. I would see them at an office building out past University in Sunrise. I started seeing them around my neighborhood when I would walk my dog. I would see them in the same yards as I would walk my Dog. And think they seem out of place, we're not near water.
But still never saw any in my yard.

We did have a lot of Brown and Green Anoles though. Throughout the year, you would see them on the patio screen flipping their dewlap trying to attract a mate. Or to show rival males they mean business, "don't make them extend my dewlap!" as they would posture. Until this Summer, one day I started noticing some large Curly Tail lizards on the East side of the house, where the garbage and recycle cans are kept. After a week or so, I started noticing, that I don't see any Anoles on that side of the house anymore. And there were loads of the Curly Tails taking over that side of the house. Then a month after that, I noticed one or two on the Screen Patio. By that time, I started noticing the Anole population was dwindling. Then within a week after that. I noticed there wasn't anymore Anoles anywhere in my yard. There was always hundreds of them.

So then I started wondering, why were the Curly tails marching? They are an invasive species apparently. But for decades they were always confined to the other side of US1, and was always near, what ever insects that consisted of their diet.

I think all of the over development on the water, killed their food source, the first refugees found palatable for so many years. After their food source was killed off. I think they turned to eating the Anoles. As they march they decimate the population of Brown and Green Anoles. The Anoles posturing with their extended dewlap and doing push ups and bobbing their heads, were no match for the Anoles flipping their tail up over their head like a scorpion. The Anole was trying to establish territory, while the Curly Tails were trying to establish dinner. These Curly tails were getting big, the bodies were 4 to 5 inches long, on the largest ones. I didn't remember them growing to be so big.

By time they fully took over my patio and yard. I started to see them a nuisance as they liked to burrow under concrete, rocks and stones. They were undermining my patio stones and sidewalk. So I started to think about how will I get rid of them. They also seemed to have ran off the Bufo Toads.

Then as soon as they came and conquered, they left. Last week I started noticing, I'm not seeing them anywhere in my yard. Not on the sides, not on the Patio. They are gone, I think they ate or ran off the Anoles. If they ran them off, why would they give up such prime location. They didn't eat all of the insects here. We still have a steady diet of what ever bugs the Anoles have been eating all of these years. There certainly wasn't a larger population than that of the Anole. They must have eaten the Anoles, and after they cleaned them out. They moved on. We've been Anole free now for about two weeks, and now the Anoles are starting to return. Not in the numbers as before, but I'm starting to see them.

After the curly tailed lizards ate the adults and youngsters. They couldn't wait for new ones to hatch from clutches that the Anoles laid 85 days ago.

The Curly tails are on the March, hide your Anoles.



Comments 1 - 17 of 17        Search these comments

1   Ceffer   2019 Sep 28, 3:10pm  

Maybe if you give the male curly tailed lizard viagra, his tail will straighten out and he won't be able to find mates. Blue balled to death. The anoles look like sweet little chameleons.
2   FuckTheMainstreamMedia   2019 Sep 28, 3:24pm  

This is why I don’t live in Florida.

Although I guess the California Democrat is roughly the equivalent.
3   Tenpoundbass   2019 Sep 28, 3:24pm  

They are sweet little lizards. What I don't get, is the Anoles stay the wall, screen or on limbs of shrubs. I have never seen the Curly tail lizards climb anything. They are strictly ground runners. The Anoles have to come off the wall eventually, and that's when I think they get them. Otherwise, I think the Anoles would just stay off the ground out of reach and eat the insects that fly by, or land on walls, limbs and screens.
4   Bd6r   2019 Sep 28, 3:29pm  

We (SE TX) had only green anoles until about 3-4 years ago, then the brown ones came and now it is a mix of 30% green and 70% brown, which are invasive ones from Caribbean. The brown lizards eat green and vice versa, but brown ones are more aggressive.
5   Ceffer   2019 Sep 28, 4:40pm  

6rdB says
We (SE TX) had only green anoles until about 3-4 years ago, then the brown ones came and now it is a mix of 30% green and 70% brown, which are invasive ones from Caribbean. The brown lizards eat green and vice versa, but brown ones are more aggressive.


Guess you need a wall. Save the Anole identity! Build a wall!
6   just_passing_through   2019 Sep 29, 10:48am  

6rdB says
We (SE TX) had only green anoles until about 3-4 years ago, then the brown ones came and now it is a mix of 30% green and 70% brown


In San Antonio the green and brown are the same lizard. They change colors like a chameleon. I just watched one do it Labor Day weekend in my parents yard but also when I was a kid in the 80s. Maybe there is some new sort of Anole I'm not aware of?

Maui has some cool ones. Not only the neck flap but they have a fringe along their back. When they fight the look like tiny dinosaurs. I can never find them when I search online so maybe they are invasive. There are others that come up that are native.

Tenpoundbass says
They are sweet little lizards


The Texas variety bite. Doesn't hurt though. Sort of cute. When I was a kid one latched on to the black part of my dogs nose. He was running around with an Anole dangling off of it haha.
7   Tenpoundbass   2019 Sep 29, 12:23pm  

just_dregalicious says
The Texas variety bite. Doesn't hurt though. Sort of cute.


Of course they bite! Lizard earrings would be gruesome if they didn't come with their own built in clasp.
8   Bd6r   2019 Sep 30, 8:11am  

just_dregalicious says
In San Antonio the green and brown are the same lizard. They change colors like a chameleon. I just watched one do it Labor Day weekend in my parents yard but also when I was a kid in the 80s. Maybe there is some new sort of Anole I'm not aware of?

Maui has some cool ones. Not only the neck flap but they have a fringe along their back. When they fight the look like tiny dinosaurs. I can never find them when I search online so maybe they are invasive. There are others that come up that are native.

The green ones change color - when they are inactive or in cooler temperatures, or sometimes when they are against brown background, they turn brown. Unfortunately, I see less of them now that the brown anole has been introduced. I first saw brown ones may be 6-7 yrs ago in N. Houston, and by about 3-4 yrs ago they reached our neck of the woods. They relegate the green anoles to treetops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_anole
9   just_passing_through   2019 Sep 30, 8:42am  

Nuts!

I got back and visit pretty frequently but that state changes so much and so quickly I haven't recognized it in quite a while.
10   Tenpoundbass   2020 May 22, 1:25pm  

About three days ago I was on my back patio and noticed one of those curly tail lizards not scurrying away when I approached it. They are normally hyper fast.

I approached it, and it was acting like a Zombie, just struggling to stand up and hold its tail curled up, and would fall back over.

I saw that behavior before, it's definitely Cane Toad poisoning, the same thing that took my dog Oadie.

The video was over 46 megs so I took a six second gif clip from it. What the gif doesn't show, well is all of the barrel rolls, like a crock it would do when I poked it with the stick.
I was not mashing, bashing or hitting the lizard with the stick just nudging it. Like the Meme(LOL).

These things are very vicious and territorial. They had driven the toads away, because they out compete everything. I saw about 4 dragonflies caught under our patio screen. An hour later I saw none, but I did see a couple slugging ones, with Dragonfly wings sticking of their mouths, scurrying away.
Before I found this Zombie Lizard, I saw one cane toad earlier in the day. And thought to myself, how long before they drive him away? He's gone now, they must have driven him away but lost one along the way.

Now that the rain is returning, they are back , I don't think the Curly Lizards are happy about

He's still out there, now he's limp as can be, I nudge him and his tail twitches. Ants can't seem to penetrate him, there's been about ten on him for the last two days. No damage yet. These things are tough. If I see him again, I'm going to consider him no more and dispose of him.
11   clambo   2020 May 22, 2:49pm  

I wondered what those things were scurrying around.

I saw them all of the time and I was about 4 miles west of the waterway, although there were canals here and there and ponds, etc.

I saw a few of those green ones but not very many.

I saw a few iguanas next to hwy 1 in Jupiter and I guess they're a pest now. Those can get big.

The oddest thing was a river otter walking through a parking lot of a building on Military trail; behind it was a canal. I watched him as I sat in my car then he saw me and wandered off back to the water behind the building.
12   Tenpoundbass   2020 May 22, 3:13pm  

Curly Tail update, he finally gave up the ghost. Nudged him and he moved as one solid cohesive piece.
13   HeadSet   2020 May 22, 9:15pm  

Tenpoundbass says
Curly Tail update, he finally gave up the ghost. Nudged him and he moved as one solid cohesive piece.


Another CV-19 victim.
14   Tenpoundbass   2020 May 22, 9:41pm  

HeadSet says
Another CV-19 victim.



That's spot on, and was one of my thoughts when I put one and two together and realized what ailed him.
I was thinking had I been one of those people freaked out by the "Zombie Lizard" and called the local authorities.
I'm sure they would have came out, and CNN would have been reporting the first ever person to lizard transmission of covid-19. Like we hear out of Latin and some Asian countries when their pets get sick.
Mind you there hasn't been a rash of Toy Poodles and Afghan Kittens getting Covid, but along the way a few cases have been reported out of the Liberal Commie Fascist Fuck everybody lock shit down countries.
15   Ceffer   2020 May 22, 10:32pm  

Florida: reptile, amphibian and large insect backyard soap operas. In California, it's more mammalian and avian soap opera. Mountain lions, wild boars, coyotes, skunks, eagles, vultures and wild turkeys around my neighborhood.
16   Tenpoundbass   2022 Aug 15, 2:00pm  

So now the Curly tail Lizards have been overthrown by the Iguana's that are overtaking South Florida ecology.
I've seen some hatchlings floating around, juveniles, and the Dog killed a Yellow Neck big male.
On a side note, while the curly tails seem to be declining in numbers while the Anoles seem to be making a comeback, in their absence. I don't think the Iguana's compete with the Anoles like they do with the Curly tail lizards. Also when the Curly tails were ruling and dominating the yard, the Bofo toad population seemed to disappear as well. Now they are on the decline I saw a toad on my patio Sunday, I quickly dispatched. The Bofu toads are the animal I'll kill on sight. Those things killed my beloved Oaddie a Bishon Poodle mix I had.
17   Ceffer   2022 Aug 15, 4:02pm  

Isn't anole monkey pox what the gays are complaining about? I'm confused.

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