FLORIDA: GIANT MONITOR LIZARDS NOW

Trappers in Cape Coral, Florida, caught a 4-foot-long Nile monitor lizard that had been wandering the neighborhood. Residents said they had feared not only for their pets, but for the protected burrowing owls that live in the area and are one of the lizards’ preferred food sources. The monitor lizard is an invasive predator that has a toxic bite. The lizards were introduced to the area sometime before the 1990s, likely as a result of the pet trade. There are believed to be more than 1,000 of the lizards living in the Cape Coral area.
* And the giant pythons haven’t killed them yet?
* Guess the giant snakes must be too busy fighting with the alligators. Hey, who wants to movie to Florida?
* It’s like living in Jurassic Park, but with smaller critters.
* Has the hoard of invasive wild pigs reached Florida yet?
* Let’s work backwards here. Are there any indigenous species still left in Florida?
* How come pretty stuff never invades the ecosystem? Like amazing butterflies?
* Florida really is giving Australia a run for its money.
* There are 1,000 lizards in the Cape Coral area? That means there’ll be 10,000 after the next mating season.
* If the owls weren’t burrowing before, they certainly are now.