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NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 14 February 06 Monitors lizards stalked by biologist - University expert researching control of troublesome creature (Charles Runnells)
Ask Todd Campbell about Nile monitor lizards.
Ask him anything.
Chances are, the University of Tampa biologist knows the answer.
How many eggs do the big lizards lay each year? As many as 50.
How long can they stay underwater? Up to an hour.
What's the best bait to trap a monitor? Rotten squid — aka "stinky squid."
"And, for whatever reason," he said, "the stinkier, the better."
Campbell has been monitoring the Cape's monitor lizards since 2003, but it's not because he wants to help the critters.
Quite the opposite.
His project is officially called: "The Eradication of Large Introduced Carnivorous Lizards in Southwest Florida."
In other words, Campbell is hunting for better ways to catch the pests and kill them off. The goal: Destroy or control the lizard population before the 4- to 7-foot lizards can gobble up more of the Cape's burrowing owls and other native wildlife.
"We've got to take this to the next level," Campbell said. "Otherwise, we're going to have a big problem in Cape Coral."
The Cape has become a monitor lizard mecca, with possibly thousands of the big lizards roaming the city — particularly in the southwest Cape. It's the largest population in Florida and the United States.
The lizards recently jumped to Sanibel Island, and federal officials and wildlife experts worry they could spread throughout Florida and the rest of the country.
The city already has a trapping program — a continuation of Campbell's work. They've captured at least 120 lizards so far.
But Cape officials hope to increase that number exponentially, and they hope the federal government helps them do it.
U.S. wildlife officials are coming to Cape Coral Wednesday to learn more about the lizard situation. They'll use that information to decide whether to send down biologists, trappers and other experts later this year.
They'll also attend a 6:30 p.m. workshop to answer residents' questions. The meeting will take place at the council chambers in City Hall.
Officials are particularly concerned about the lizards' effect on burrowing owls, a threatened species. The first documented case of a lizard killing an owl happened last year when a Cape resident saw the owl in a lizard's mouth.
The Cape celebrates the owls — the city's official bird — this Saturday with the annual Burrowing Owl Festival at Rotary Park.
Wildlife biologist Tom Allen, who is doing his own study on the city's burrowing owls, said monitor lizards have virtually no natural predators in the Cape, so they're able to eat and breed to their hearts' content.
Just last week, Allen said, a woman reported seeing a lizard leaving an owl burrow. Allen can't prove that the lizards are eating lots of owls, but he's pretty sure they are.
"They live in burrows, themselves," he said. "So there's no doubt in my mind they'd go into another burrow for an owl."
Campbell and his team of scientists tracked the lizards with radio transmitters for three years, and they're still studying the data. It could be months before they reach any solid conclusions.
Still, they've already learned lots of interesting things.
For example, the lizards will eat almost anything they can get their jaws around: Fish, birds, other lizards and perhaps even house pets.
Campbell's team cut the stomachs out of 80 lizards, and they're still examining the contents.
Scientists haven't found any burrowing owl parts yet. But they have found whole clutches of lizard eggs — dozens of them, shell and all— in their stomachs.
The monitor lizards' diet does have at least one positive effect. They appear to be eating other invasive species, as well.
"We actually found 16 Cuban tree frogs in the gut of one animal," Campbell said. "And we've found brown anoles in about 30 percent of the monitor lizards we've looked at."
Campbell is also learning cool things like how the lizards fight off enemies. They'll stand on their hind legs, flex their arms like a weightlifter and whip their tails in front of them, Indiana Jones style.
"They're pumping their arms like they're trying to show they're a bad guy," Campbell said. "They're very smart."
Monitors can also travel several miles in one week, Campbell said. He once tracked a lizard that swam and ran more than half a mile in one morning.
"It wasn't surprising to me at all," Campbell said. "But it was still kind of neat to see that happening."
All this data may be interesting, but there's a reason behind it.
Campbell hopes eradication of the lizards can soon start in earnest.
"There comes a point where you stop studying them and you start really killing them," he said. "And we're at that point."
Monitors lizards stalked by biologist

NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 16 February 06 Leaders drum up support for destroying lizards (Charles Runnells)
They came to learn about monitor lizards. But by the end of Wednesday's lizard meeting, several Lee County residents had become impromptu political advocates.
City and federal officials urged the 40 or 50 residents to write or e-mail their state and federal leaders. The reason: To drum up support to kill off Cape Coral's destructive monitor lizards.
The Cape has the biggest population of the 4- to 7-foot lizards in the United States, and officials worry it will spread everywhere if the feds don't step in soon.
Federal wildlife officials attended the meeting Wednesday night at City Hall. They're hoping to get federal aid approved to send trappers, biologists and other experts to the Cape later this year.
Cape resident Debbie Parham plans to do what she can to light a fire under her representatives and senators.
Parham, 52, came to the meeting to learn more about the lizards for her class at Tropic Isles Elementary in North Fort Myers. Her gifted second- and third-graders have been discussing the lizards this week, and they're even planning to make paper-mache models of the creatures, the teacher's assistant said.
But Parham said she was also inspired to write a letter.
"It's important," she said. "I was horrified to learn that they've found lizards on Sanibel Island. That's where all the turtle eggs are."
Monitor lizards gobble up just about anything they can, including tree frogs, the occasional burrowing owl, and, yes, eggs — including turtle eggs.
"Anything that lays an egg on the ground or in the ground is at risk," said Todd Campbell, a University of Tampa scientist studying the lizards. "They love eggs."
Scientists worry that the lizards could kill off the area's native wildlife in their quest for food. But if help comes soon enough, the lizard population — estimated to be in the thousands — might be able to be controlled or even eradicated.
The aquatic lizards were first seen in the Cape in 1990. Officials believe the creatures were bought as pets and later dumped in the wild.
Monitors do especially well in the Cape because of its approximate 400 miles of canals. That's basically 800 miles of coastline "habitat," Campbell said.
Michael Orchin, president of the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, said he may get people to sign an anti-lizard petition at Saturday's annual Burrowing Owl Festival.
"We might get 300 or 400 signatures," Orchin said. He also urged people to get their neighbors to send letters to their federal leaders. "That way, it will have more of an impact."
Bernice Constantin, the Florida director of wildlife services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said it's likely federal leaders will fund the eradication of monitors and other invasive species such as the Burmese python.
"The invasive species problem in Florida has to be recognized and addressed," he said. "The atmosphere in Washington is very favorable, but they need to hear from the constituents at home."
• For more information on Nile monitor lizards and how to write or contact federal leaders, call Cape biologist Kraig Hankins at 574-0746.
Leaders drum up support for destroying lizards