NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 11 January 06 Sanibel seeks to nip lizard invasion in the bud (Kevin Lollar)
Nobody knows whether it's one lizard spotted four times or four sightings of as many as four different lizards.
But Sanibel officials announced Tuesday that residents have made four confirmed sightings of Nile monitor lizards on the island since August, all in the Sanibel Bayous/Heron's Landing area.
"We're hoping it's the same animal," City Manager Judie Zimomra said. "It appears to match the same description — it seems to be 5 or 5 1/2 feet long. I can't say that it answers to the name of Spot, but it seems to be the same lizard.
"Our goal is to remove him or her from the island before he or she can find a mate."
Nile monitors are aggressive, voracious exotic — non-native — reptiles that feed on just about anything they can grab, including sea turtle eggs, sea turtle hatchlings, birds, bird eggs, gopher tortoises, mammals and pets.
So far, no one has reported that a monitor has attacked a pet.
"On Sanibel, we educate residents about the hazards of keeping little puppy dogs unattended,"
Zimomra said. "In our environment, we don't want domestic pets unattended in the yard."
Sanibel is no place for Nile monitors, said Paul Andrews, president of the Sanibel- Captiva Audubon Society.
"They have to go; it's as simple as that," Andrews said. "There are things that really don't belong here. The odds are in disfavor for our birds, sea turtles and other critters.
"I was at a trail guide meeting and somebody was asking in all honesty, 'Are my grandchildren safe?' In all likelihood they are, but, on the other hand, you don't want some kid crawling around with a Nile monitor lizard in the yard."
Nile monitors have been slinking around Cape Coral for 15 years, and the city has an active trapping program. The city is estimated to harbor up to 1,000 of the lizards, and 95 have been caught since 2003.
The largest monitor lizard found so far in Cape Coral was a 6-foot, 2-inch animal that was hit by a car in October on Aqualinda Drive, just south of Cape Coral Parkway.
In August, a Sanibel resident snapped what may have been the first photographic proof that the lizard had hit the island.
Sanibel has tried various kinds of traps to get its monitor or monitors.
"The bait of choice is squid and rancid meats," Zimomra said. "We've tried a variety of baits. One problem is it has an ample food source in the natural environment, which makes it difficult to entice it to the bait.
"Maybe we should try reporters."
Sanibel seeks to nip lizard invasion in the bud