Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been talking (e-mail and phone) to some of the folk mentioned in these alarmist articles about feral nile monitors. A few facts I've been given:

1) No one has reported being attacked by a monitor unless they were trying to attack/catch the monitor, and even then there has not been on serious injury (at least on record.)

2) There is likely *one* monitor in the Sanibel wildlife refuge, and they are trying to catch it alive.

3) It has not been confirmed that the monitors have had *any* bad effect on endangered species.

4) Sanibel Island is inhabited by "large numbers" of Green iguanas, another issue for me to explore. I didn't know the greenies were established that far north yet...

Assuming all goes well, I'll be spending a couple days in Cap Coral and Sanibel next week. I'll keep people posted. For those who wonder about the tone I'm going to take, read my first article about the Gasparilla iguanas:

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The Iguanas of Gasparilla Island

A very interesting article on the Iguanas. Have they posed a threat to any native flora or fauna? Or has that been undefined as of now.

I am going to look forward to your next one about the recent Nile hype.
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Cheers,

Michael Starkey

>>A very interesting article on the Iguanas. Have they
>>posed a threat to any native flora or fauna? Or has
>>that been undefined as of now.

Having talked to several people -- animal control officers, herpetologists, park employees -- I have not seen any evidence that iguanas or monitors have actually threatened native species. At this point, the threat is largely theoretical; I think some people are paranoid, and some are trying to anticipate problems before they begin.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/