NAPLES - Winter brings out the green when it comes to reptile encounters in Southwest Florida.
According to Collier County Domestic Animal Services control supervisor Dana Alger, iguana reports traditionally rise when temperatures drop, as the reptiles seek to warm themselves on asphalt surfaces such as sidewalks, roads and driveways.
While iguanas are considered exotics, not domestic animals, Alger says DAS responds to calls on the reptiles because they are sold in pet stores.
"People buy them as babies and later release them when they no longer want to keep them as pets," she explains. "Because they can thrive in this environment, they propagate. Probably 50 percent of the iguanas we get calls on are born in the wild, but because we don't know for sure, we respond."
Alger recalls a report where the homeowner called DAS after a large iguana became stuck trying to escape through a chain link fence in his backyard.
"The owner ended up cutting the fence to let it loose," she says. "The next day the same homeowner called to report two more where stuck in his fence. What are the odds? You can go months without a report and then get five in one day, usually after a cold spell."
Agents say it is the large iguanas, some up to four or five feet in length, that will usually generate a call to DAS. Unless they were domestically raised, which is seldom the case, these large lizards pose a considerable challenge to capture.
"It takes a good amount of time to try to catch an iguana," Alger says. "They will usually run up a tree and climb to the top branches. If they run into a canal, they can stay under for hours. If we can't catch them in an hour or two, they get the clearance to live free."
At least until the next call, that is. Some iguanas have become so good at escaping they have become veritable urban legends in some areas.
"Outside the Marco exit, there is a fairly large one that comes out every winter," Alger says. "He lays on the I-75 exit ramp, so we get a lot of reports on that one. There's another one at Grey Oakes and one at Poinciana. I saw a three-foot one near my development and used my car to try to move him off the street and over to the canal."
On the few occasions when someone has contained an iguana until DAS officers arrive, the lizards can still be very difficult to capture. Their sharp claws and long, whipping tails provide a significant deterrent.
"Even with the control pole, it can be tricky," Alger says. "If you try to grab them by the tail and hold on that way, they can detach their tail and get away."
Unlike Florida's common anole lizards, an iguana's tail does not grow back, she added.
Although they can grow to lengths of more than seven feet, Alger says iguanas are primarily plant eaters and do not pose a significant danger to humans or pets, as do alligators. She says that many times, the lizards are gone by the time the agent responds to the call. If DAS agents are not able to capture the elusive lizards, residents can hire a private trapper.
Alger notes that the temptation to release unwanted exotic pets into the wild can be avoided if people do their homework prior to buying or adopting them. She said pet store owners may fail to inform potential buyers of the challenges and even dangers of raising snakes, toads and lizards. Iguanas can carry salmonella, and there has been at least one incident of a baby's death caused by the presence of an iguana allowed to roam loose in the home, according to Alger.
She recalled a former DAS administrator who requested that a carnival vendor stop using iguanas as prizes, after spotting the practice at a local festival.
New state legislation has made possession of exotic animals less attractive. Reptiles and snakes of concern, such as pythons and monitor lizards, are now required to be microchipped to allow authorities to track the animals when found in the wild. Pythons have become a significant exotic predator in the Everglades, according to FWC reports.
DAS urges pet owners not to release unwanted lizards into the wild. Lizards that have been kept as pets can be turned over to the agency for a $10 surrender fee. The Calusa Herpetological Society of Southwest Florida, in Estero, may also be of assistance and can be reached online at www.calusaherp.org.