Lizards of Florida

 The Brown Anole or Cuban Anole came from the Caribbean and I don’t know if they had valid passports. These lizards are very territorial and drive away rivals with a series of head bobs, followed by a display of their dewlap or throat fan. This aggressive behavior has made it possible for this species to slowly replace the Green Anole that once was prevalent. The green anoles have the ability to change color and the browns don’t. This macho fellow was strutting his stuff at a beach in the Florida Keys. This may be equivalent to kicking sand in another guy’s face in human behavior.

 And here is Fred, the Curly Tail lizard. Another Cuban, this aggressive lizard can be quite intimidating but I believe I am the first one to tame one. Fred showed up one day in my backyard and claimed the waterfall by my swimming pool as his territory. He would charge toward me when approached, but quickly retreat to his rock castle. This is normal behavior towards humans. One summer my wife, Edrianna and I were having lunch out back and saw Fred out hunting for food. The normal diet for this type of lizard is other small lizards, insects and caterpillars (see Back Yard Critters for that story). I tossed a chunk of watermelon his way and to our surprise; he attacked it and gulped it down. Wow, a vegetarian? Over the next month we tossed him melon every day and he became bolder getting closer to us each day until one day he was sitting at the table waiting for us to come outside and eat.

 After a while Fred got up enough nerve and grabbed a piece of melon from my hand. He would eventually start greeting us as we came out the patio door. One day we ate inside at the dining table and Fred, the watermelon junkie, came up to the sliding door and tapped on it as if to say, “Hey, FEED ME!” I am not making this up. We created a watermelon eating monster. I would tell people this story and no one would believe it until they came over to the house, went outside and I called for Fred. He would appear from hiding and charge over for a treat. I stopped feeding him by hand because one day he mistook my finger for a piece of food. He didn’t have real sharp teeth but did have quite a grip. By the way, do not feed wild animals, try to convert them from carnivores to vegans or give them names; they may end up getting too comfortable and never leaving, like a high school grad that just won’t leave the nest. At least they can be claimed as dependents.