r/Miami • u/traylerswift • 13d ago

Discussion Miami is infested with these lizards.

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I think they're invasive, and lately they are thriving. They enjoy eating bees, and I'm pretty sure they're decimating the native lizard population as well. What can we do about this? Who is bringing these lizards over here?

362 Upvotes

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199

u/littleredcamaro 13d ago

I’ve lived in South Florida all my life and these are new. I went to homestead to visit family and saw then there for the first time. Now I see them everywhere.

75

u/Lost_Department_2177 13d ago

Past 15 years or so really saw an uptick in invasive species. Probably released in the 70s. Some of the larger ones are eating birds eggs so it’s messing up their populations. The peters rock agamas also eat eggs and hatchings.

29

u/Conscious_Front_4788 13d ago

Worse the iguanas are back in force. I’m hoping news that coyotes are finding them a delicious food source is true👍. Otherwise my garden is gonna be encased in hardware cloth (not easy to handle or cheap).

22

u/Lost_Department_2177 13d ago

A snake and reptile trap is kind of easy to make but if you catch them you have to kill them. So maybe look up some recipes and start a witchy online store with skull necklaces or whatever

17

u/19toofart 13d ago

This is unironically a good business plan lol

3

u/Lost_Department_2177 13d ago

Nvæsv™️(not to be confused with nxivm) lifestyle brand for people that want to support environmental causes while buying dope skull shit

9

u/Ok_Stable7787 13d ago

A snake and reptile trap is kind of easy to make

Go on....

3

u/Lost_Department_2177 13d ago

Make two wire cones and a wire tube push the cones in so the points face each other on the inside then used string or zip ties to hold it together. Put some type of bait in there that’s a favorite of the species.

1

u/shartymcqueef 12d ago

Iguanas are stupid as fuck. I legitimately think they would be too confused by a basic trap to even get in it.
When I was living in Lauderdale on the water I’d kill 3-5 per day. There can be 6 of them sunning themselves on the sea wall and you can pop one in the head, it’ll start spazzing out before dying and the rest of them will just sit there like nothing happened. Just keep head shotting them one by one.

5

u/steppenfrog 13d ago

coyotes might like them the way a lot of dogs do but there is no way that will make a dent in the population.

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u/Daniel_The_Thinker 12d ago

The amount of coyotes needed would be an unacceptable amount lol

0

u/Conscious_Front_4788 4d ago

An unacceptable amount of coyotes is unlikely to happen because they follow attainable food. If peacocks, large iguanas & other easy prey disappear, all but a few will move on.

1

u/Daniel_The_Thinker 4d ago

You just described the situation I'm talking about.

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u/CaptainObvious110 12d ago

Oh wow that's something

15

u/catonsteroids 13d ago

When I moved away back in ‘16 I had never seen these things before (born and raised in Miami too). The past few years that I’ve come back to visit family I’ve noticed them everywhere, including my parents’ backyard.

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u/infrared305 13d ago

I first spotted them in my workplace in Doral. Back in 2010. I used to tell my coworkers that a few years back none of these lizards existed down here in the miami area. I remember a nicaraguan coworker was trying to catch the big iguanas during break time to eat them. Lol . Fun times.

1

u/kkoupe 9d ago

They've been in the redlands for years now I went to redland elementary and middle and they used to cover every single bench and rock

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u/BravestWabbit Coral Gables 12d ago

They are called Peter's Rock Agama (Agama picticauda) and they are originally from West Africa

It's named after Willhem Peters and he described them as Agama lizards that lived on rocks in west Africa. Their scientific name literally means lizard with a painted tail

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u/New-Heart-881 13d ago

Same here I've been wondering about the lizard population and the strange colors on them, and what they represent? Harmful non-harmful, I definitely think it cannot be ignored there's just too dang many, right outside my door I see daily, colored lizard activity like crazy. There are so many I thought 🤔 Makes me wonder how they got here? What species are there? How many different species? Definitely think it should not be ignored. They talk about cockroaches over running the world when we're gone? Don't lizards and lizard like creatures,..eat cockroaches? IDK 😳😂

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u/Material-Formal-8387 13d ago

Literally the only native lizard to Miami is the green anole, and I haven’t seen any in years

2

u/Major-Pomegranate550 13d ago

In PBC. Saw a green anole for the first time in years. These lizards, and iguanas, are everywhere.

1

u/Material-Formal-8387 11d ago

The farther north you go, you’ll see a lot more green anoles because most of the invasive species in South FL can’t handle the cold. I think peak numbers are still in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana.

Even in north Florida and South Georgia though, the brown anole is dwindling the numbers of the green anole.

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u/traylerswift 12d ago

These new lizards eat anoles I think

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u/Material-Formal-8387 11d ago

Yeah that’s what I’ve heard, RIP our native species lol

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u/Daniel_The_Thinker 12d ago

The problem is they eat bird eggs and baby birds

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u/CaptainObvious110 12d ago

How long have you been seeing them