Smarties Bar & Grill #76

Columbus Day is just a paid day off to me which is always a happy day. I really don't get to tethered to the history of holidays.

 

When buying my powerball ticket I discovered you can buy bacon grease so I feel like I won the lottery twice in one day

 

Some of you may remember me talking about trying to catch these somewhat large exotic lizards down here and Port Charlotte since I have to take my girlfriend to the oncologist once a month here.... Many times I will have an hour to kill and I walk across the street to this small store and there are exotic Peters Rock agama everywhere.

I've been after some for about 3 months now but they're fast for fat chunky lizards.

Well anyhow we had our first cold snap of the year and it got down to 65 last night so it's not as hot today as it has been and they were moving slower and I was able to capture two females and one mature male.

Now I just have to figure out if I want to go spend money on an aquarium and keep them as pets or turn them loose around my house 32 miles Northwest of here because I hear we already have some breeding populations where I live so maybe I can help to facilitate it?

They're exotic but they're not necessarily considered invasive.

All invasives are exotic but not necessarily all exotics are invasive. An example of an invasive is an exotic animal that competes with natives for food and habitat and has a detrimental effect on them.

The Peters Rock agama is only considered invasive down in Miami because they are insectivorous and evidently it is placing pressure there on some endangered butterfly.

But everywhere else is considered not invasive

 

Happy Columbus Day !!! Columbus statues are history and a reminder.

 

The larger of the two female specimens managed to escape by temporary holding facilities on the way home, somewhere inside of my minivan.

After looking at the obvious places I have decided to leave a door and some windows open tonight.

The large male specimen and the smaller female of the two, were released beneath my mobile home where there is sufficient habitat.

These lizards actually prefer higher ground that is well drained and Rocky... In fact they are often found in urban areas.

Parking lots and the side of buildings are common habitat.... Habitat also consists of things like construction debris.

In short this lizard is practically engineered to invade much of remotely Southern Florida.

 

@Curious Always
Are you familiar with the Peters Rock agama?

Lots of people might call them a rainbow lizard. From what I can tell where you are located you should have an abundance of established invasive lizards

 

I don’t see those around here, but we get those fun invasive varieties all the time. They swim in our pool; not kidding.’

 

Happy Columbus Day. We had Italian sausage with spaghetti.

 

Likely black spiny tailed iguana and or common green iguana.

Considered very invasive and folks get paid to kill them with airguns. Will eat your landscaping and dig under your foundation and poop in your pool and they can carry salmonella

 

We have thousands of them within a square mile. It’s nuts. The one in the pool was just a garden variety iguana. The locals feel “sorry,” for them and get all sad when they see a dead animal. Oy the bitchin’ on Nextdoor about the mean spirited idiots who want to cull the population. Stupid is as stupid does. Nerd aims for them with the car whenever he can. He’s nabbed two in the last five years. Suckers are fast.

 

Oh I know the bleeding hearts cry about removing them.

Y'all should get you a 10 pump 22 caliber crosman air gun that they have I think it's like $80. It's a rifle so it should be good and accurate out to 80 ft hundred foot or so...( Keeping the range reasonable )

Plus it's 10 pump so if you don't really need a full power shot you can just pump It up three or four times ( if you're pretty close in the lizard isn't that big ) and go to town on removing some.

 

Are they good eating?

 

The larger specimens are, or so I have been told. I think the back legs are probably the majority of the meat.

 

We’ve got a very old iguana who hangs around the neighborhood. It’s 4’ easily, with tail. It’s huge. He’s super slow and wanders the street with careless abandon. the moment someone tries to run over him, he moves like lightening. They have an enormous capacity to move on a moment’s notice.

 

Some other species you probably have in your neck of the woods.... Panther chameleons and veiled chameleons, curly tail lizards... And perhaps tegus and monitors. Absolutely invasive and those should be killed right away. They love to raid alligator nest and eat the eggs.

 

Google restaurants that serve iguana in Miami. They actually have restaurants that serve it or google is wrong.

 

Not the least bit surprising. Miami is invasive reptile Central. That's one way to take care of a problem.

 

Curly tails, absolutely. Everywhere!!! I can see 10 walking from the back door to the composter. Not sure on the others,though.

Hurricane Andrew released a lot of “exotic,” and caged animals into the wild. Python hunting is a thing! Come on over!! The state pays by the foot, I believe. (It may be the county; not sure.)

 

I'll tell you another thing about him.... They know when someone comes to eradicate them with an air gun.

They go from being lazy around in the Sun
..... To be an animal more elusive than the skunk ape.

 

My liberal landlord friend..... Calls the Peter's Rock agamas..... Rock Obama's....lol