KHON (Honolulu, Hawaii) 02 May 06 Aggressive lizard invades state (Ron Mizutani)
Now to the story of another lizard, and this one is being called "an invader."
It's called the "brown anole," an aggressive lizard that's believed to be responsible for the decline of other lizard species.
A growing number of residents across Hawaii are dealing with these nasty lizards that are very aggressive, very quick and very ugly.
Every morning, Bo Sueyoshi feels like she's in a Hollywood movie.
The brown anole reminds her of a Steven Spielberg creation.
A scene from "Lost World, Jurassic Park: 2" is being replayed in many backyards.
"They're ugly; they look like little dinosaurs," says Bo Sueyoshi, Hawaii Kai resident. "I take my dogs out for a walks in the afternoon and they're just all over the sidewalks."
The Caribbean lizard first surfaced in Hawaii more than a decade ago.
"We started seeing the brown anole, as far as getting reports, in the Lanikai Kailua area in like the early '90s," says Domingo Carvalho, Department of Agriculture.
Since then populations have rapidly spread across Oahu and even parts of Kauai and Maui, wreaking havoc on other lizards along the way.
"Even the house lizards that go -- those little geckos - yeah, they eat those," says Sueshiro.
"The animals are much more aggressive, they're quicker and the larger adults tend to feed on smaller green anoles," says Cravalho.
Craig Chock of Kailua has seen the trend.
"Taking over the green ones. You don't see the green ones anymore," says Chock. "I haven't seen these in my house, thank God."
"The only natural predator that I'm aware of would be man," says Cravalho.
"And then this is an apartment for one of them -- he lives down here and he comes out," says Sueyoshi.
The little critters are starting to get on Sueyoshi's nerves.
"I water the plants in the afternoon, they come out for a drink and they like to be showered. I shoot the hose on them and they just sit there, thank you," says Sueyoshi.
But no one in her family believed her.
"I keep telling them we're being invaded by these ugly lizards, so I take pictures to show them. I put it on a slide show and say, here look!" says Sueyoshi. "I always find this guy on the rake. For some reason he loves the rake."
As far as an impact on humans?
"They'll bite if handled, but it's like a pinch," says Cravalho.
No need to call Spielberg -- yet.
We're not alone. The brown anole is also wreaking havoc in Cuba, Georgia and Florida.
Aggressive lizard invades state

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