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NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 16 August 05 Sanibel on alert for Nile lizards (Pamela Smith Hayford)
A Sanibel resident has snapped what may be the first photographic proof that Nile monitor lizards are setting up residence on the posh island.
The big lizards have a ravenous appetite that could wreak havoc on birds and other critters that are Sanibel's claim to fame.
So the city is asking the public for help. Officials say that if anyone sees a dark brown or black lizard with an elongated head and yellow bands on its body, they should call the police.
That's what the city directed in a statement released Monday.
The headline reads: "Dangerous Nile monitor lizard sighted on Sanibel — wildlife at risk."
"Removal of this dangerous exotic lizard is a priority to the sustainability of our island's environmental health and we are treating it as such," said City Manager Judie Zimomra in the press release.
The Nile, which grows to 7 feet in length, will eat anything it can get its claws on: eggs, birds, snails, clams, crabs, fish, other reptiles, even the family pet. The reptiles can pose a threat to infants if left unattended, according to Sanibel police.
The lizards rarely attack people, wildlife experts say, but can do so if provoked.
About two weeks ago, a Sanibel resident snapped a photograph of what appears to be a Nile monitor in his backyard at Heron's Landing, on the west side of the island.
The city's natural resources staff members have been unable to find the lizard and are now asking the police to take calls from the public about sightings.
Only one other sighting has ever been reported on Sanibel. That was in 1996, but wildlife officials were not able to confirm it.
Cape Coral, however, has a huge Nile monitor population. Almost all 146 sightings or captures in Lee County between April 2001 and July 2003 were in the Cape.
In a 2004 report, researchers studying the Cape lizards predicted they'd spread to Sanibel if not controlled.
There has been an effort to do that, but the lizards are fanning out nonetheless.
"My understanding is these have been island-hopping from Pine Island south," said Rob Jess, manager of J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
Jess said the refuge has had reports of monitors on its islands, but staff could never find the elusive critters.
"They're definite swimmers, no doubt about that," Jess said. "I wouldn't put it past them to be swimming and island-hopping.
Nile Monitor Sightings
• Anyone seeing a Nile monitor lizard on Sanibel is asked to call police at the non-emergency number, 472-3111.
• To report a monitor sighting in Cape Coral, contact biologist Kraig Hankins, 574-0746 or 574-0745, or by e-mail at khankins @capecoral.net.
Nile Monitor Lizard
• Origin: Africa
First official sighting in Cape Coral: 1990
• Population: Thousands live in Lee County
• Mating season: April to September. Hatching season is from January to March.
• Size: Up to 7 feet in wild and 4.5 to 5.5 feet in captivity. Males tend to be larger.
• Food: Rodents, other reptiles, amphibians, birds, small mammals, insects and eggs from nests they raid.
• How they live: They are semi-aquatic. In Cape Coral, they live in burrows around the city's more than 400 miles of canals.
Sanibel on alert for Nile lizards

why not take these "aliens" and sell em in the pet trade instead of importing them and hurting yet more ecosystems? not that they should be as widely available as they are, but this would at least help one problem instead of perpetuating another one. i dunno, just a thought.
-jake

There is at least one reptile dealer already doing this in FL. I spoke with him on the subject many years ago. Appearanly the FL Keys have MANY intriduced species, including reptiles, primates, etc.
He goes out from time to time and captures what he can. He told me about some of the monsterous gravid niles that hes ran accross. Sounded like an adventure!