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BOCA BEACON (Boca Grande, Florida) 19 November 04 No easy fix, no solution offered to lizard problem
If the residents of Boca Grande learned anything from their meeting with Lee County officials on Thursday night, Nov. 17, it was that the island's iguana problem will not be easily solved.
Animal Services handles cats and dogs, we don't do exotics," Scott Trebatoski, director of Lee County Animal Services, told the standing room only crowd at the Community Center. "We're not funded, trained or permitted for this. We're stepping up to be the lead agency."
Also present at the meeting were Lee County Commissioner Bob Janes, assistant Lee County manager Pete Winton, wildlife biologist Dr. Jerry Jackson with Florida Gulf Coast University and Animal Services investigator Lance Raiche. The meeting was sponsored by the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association.
Although the iguanas have been around for years, Janes said the issue was first raised with the county last spring by a group of concerned island residents. "We've never had any complaints. I can't recall an e-mail into my office complaining about iguanas, so we didn't know," he said.
The purpose of the meeting was to obtain popular consensus on what to do with the pesky reptiles, Janes said.
That consensus, expressed over and over by those in attendance, was: get rid of them.
Not so easily done. Trebatoski said state animal cruelty laws prevent the iguanas from being gassed or drowned. Pesticides would poison native reptiles. Shooting them, while popular with the audience, "does create some problems," Jackson said.
While it would be impossible to eliminate the iguana population, Janes said, they could be controlled.
"How long will it take to get a solution?" one man asked.
"It depends how hard you're willing to work to do it, because it's going to take everyone involved to do it," Jackson answered. "It's going to take money from the county and money from elsewhere to try to eradicate them."
Jackson recommended live-trapping the iguanas using hibiscus flowers or dog food for bait, or capturing them with a nylon noose on a long pole. His idea to humanely euthanize the cold-blooded reptiles by chilling them in home freezers drew laughter from the audience.
Trebatoski suggested establishing a "containment unit" on the island to collect trapped iguanas, which would then be transported back to Animal Services headquarters, where they would be euthanized with injections of sodium pentabarbitol.
He offered no estimate of what such a service would cost to reduce the population, estimated by various sources to be in the thousands.
One woman, speaking in a lighter vein, suggested an iguana roundup as an alternative to the annual Tarpon Tournament. "No catch and release," she said.
A man accused the panel of delaying a solution. "You're all saying the same thing. You're talking in circles. Reduce the population today," he said, drawing applause.
Questions were raised about whether the iguanas could carry disease, or had ever injured a human.
While captive iguanas can transmit salmonella, the wild ones don't pose a health threat, Jackson said. And while they can "bite viciously" with their small teeth, and use their spiny tails as whips, Jackson said he couldn't imagine them inflicting serious injury.
If not controlled, Jackson warned, the omnivorous iguanas would be "devastating" to populations of beach birds and sea turtles. The community should contact their state representatives for help in dealing with the iguanas and the largely ignored problem of invasive exotic animals in general, he said.
The work of collecting the iguanas would be done by a licensed permitted operator, with the support of the community, Janes said. It could be financed through an addition to the municipal services benefit unit that currently funds street lighting on the island.
"We really won't know what it will cost until we put it out for bids," Janes said. "We have no idea, because we've never done it before."
The cooperation of Charlotte County would also be needed, but Janes said he wouldn't wait for them to start.
"In 1992, there was talk about an iguana removal program, and it got shot down here," Janes reminded the audience. "This is why it's so important to have community support in order to proceed."
Janes said the county would offer a program for the community to review before the end of the season. "We're very much interested in the problem, and we're going to try to take care of it for you," he said, drawing loud applause.
No easy fix, no solution offered to lizard problem

The reptiles in question are spiny-tailed iguanas, by the way -- Ctenosaura similis, which is native to Nicaragua and Panama. These animal were *deliberately* introduced an the late 1970s by an irresponsible island resident.

The problem seems to be two-fold: New residents don't like the inconvenience posed by the iguanas, and the exotic reptiles are a serious threat to the gopher tortoise. C. similis eats eggs and baby turtles, unlike the herbivorous Green Iguana (Iguana iguana).

Given a choice, I'd prefer to see some sort of natural control, but I don't know of any research into reptile contraceptives.

These animals are ill-suited to being pets, being wild and numerous.

Anyone know of a home for a thousand wayward reptiles?

I'll be going to Gasparilla Island after Thanksgiving, and will let people know what I find.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

NORTH PORT SUN (Florida) 17 November 04 Iguanas may be voted off the island (Gavin Off)
Boca Grande: They came out one by one.
The smaller ones were noticeably more daring, running across walkways and sunning themselves just feet away from onlookers.
The larger ones seemed content in the shadows under a wooden porch.
About 10 spiny-tailed iguanas lounged around Boca Grande's South Beach Bar & Grill on Tuesday afternoon.
While residents say they're all over the island, this is one of the more popular hangouts. The restaurant is home to several iguanas topping out at nearly 3 feet long.
"They know this is a safe haven," said assistant manager Tim Gilbo. "I know the island is full of them."
That's the problem.
Jerome Jackson, a scholar at Florida Gulf Coast University, said the iguanas were likely imported from Mexico as a part of the exotic pet trade. Whoever bought them eventually ended up releasing them on Boca Grande, and their numbers have since ballooned.
Now residents are wondering if it's time to rid the island of the reptiles, or at least curb their population.
Island residents and Lee County officials will discuss the problem iguanas are causing at 5 p.m. today at the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association town hall meeting. The meeting will be held at the Boca Grande Community Center.
"They don't belong there," Jackson said. "Removing them) would certainly be the best for other native plants and animals."
According to Jackson, the iguanas eat everything from insects and mice to native plants and bird eggs. And since they're not natural to the island, they have few enemies. Jackson said an iguana's lifespan probably runs seven to 10 years.
"Once they get pretty big, there's not much that can deal with them," Jackson said. "They'll eat anything they can choke down. If they can catch it, they're going to eat it."
The reptiles ranged in color from pink-and-brown to black and in length from several inches to several feet long.
They'll go almost anywhere, from crawl spaces to attics. Some say they even chew through insulation in the walls.
Gilbo said South Beach recently trimmed nearby trees, preventing the iguanas from climbing onto the roof.
"You leave a ladder against the side of a building and they'll get up there," Gilbo said. "A lot of people consider them a rat."
But removing the animals could prove costly.
Jackson said there would first have to be a study to determine how many there are. Then, officials must decide how to remove them humanely.
Trapping or removing the lizards could cost $100,000 to $200,000, Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association officials said.
"That's a lot of money," said Chris Coyne, who works on Boca Grande.
Coyne said he's in favor of relocating the iguanas, as long as it's done in an orderly manner.
"I don't want to give guns to the local people," he said. "You don't want the wild, wild west against the iguanas."
Lee County officials, including Commissioner Bob Janes, Assistant County Manager Pete Winton and the director of animal services, will be on hand today.
Winton said this would be the first of several talks about possibly removing the animals from the island. It will help officials judge public opinion, he said.
Jackson, however, warned that officials shouldn't wait too long.
Non-venomous tarantulas were recently introduced to Florida's East Coast, and now they're taking over an entire county, Jackson said. And 100 European starlings were brought to New York City in the 1890s; now, more than 2 million of the birds are found across North America.
"There's always going to be the people who want to save the spiny-tailed iguana," Jackson said. "Once they get on the mainland and start increasing their numbers, there's no going back."
Iguanas may be voted off the island

BOCA BEACON (Boca Grande, Florida) 19 November 04 Expert made offer to remove lizards
In June, a professional reptile wrangler told Lee County he could remove 2,000 "nuisance iguanas" in one month, and that he had already found homes for 3,000 of the spiny reptiles.
"The animals will be captured humanely and transported as per federal regulations to California and Arizona," Dr. Ben Schaffer wrote in an e-mail letter to Lee County Animal Services director Scott Trebatoski.
Trebatoski supplied the Beacon with a copy of the letter after Thursday night's iguana meeting with county officials.
Schaffer claimed to have over 20 years' experience field collecting, studying, capturing and shipping reptiles and amphibians.
The project of collecting the reptiles could have begun this month, Schaffer said. "Since the majority of the residence (sic) will be on the islands from November 2005 through March 2005, this will aid significantly in the capture and relocation of the iguanas," Schaffer wrote, unaware of the date error. "Several cell phone accounts will be established and given to all effected (sic) residences. As the iguanas are observed, the residence (sic) will be able to participate and contact us immediately to have the animals removed."
He said he had been working on similar projects for four years in Arizona and for five years in California.
Schaffer also claimed to have worked on projects involving iguanas, as well as other species of lizards, crocodiles and snakes in Angola, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Fiji, Benin and the Ivory Coast, but those claims could not be substantiated by press time.
Schaffer stated he was a licensed insurance claims adjuster for Florida and Texas. He said he would document all private homes and properties to limit liability issues.
Trebatoski said he had never heard back from Schaffer after the initial contact, but an associate of Schaffer's said Thursday that the county hadn't responded to the e-mail letter.
Expert made offer to remove lizards

And I think it's that same guy! What kind of expert is this guy anyway??? I think we can all agree that the animals have to be contained or destroyed, but he is really stuck in the dark ages. I'm glad all those people laughed at him.