For many Florida residents, there’s an opportunity they’ve just lately noticed lizards with an orange head and darkish blue physique scurrying about of their neighborhoods.
With April kicking off breeding season for a lot of Florida critters, these colourful lizards are prone to grow to be rather more frequent within the coming months.
What some Florida residents may not know is that these lizards — Peters’s rock agama — are an invasive species within the Sunshine State.
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
Peters’s rock agama can stick out because of their hanging colours and dimension (males can attain as much as 1 foot lengthy), although the University of Florida reviews that they’re native to East Africa.
Despite how colourful many of those lizards seem, females, nonbreeding males and young Peters’ rock agama are rather more dull-colored, having “brownish, rough-scaled bodies,” UF researchers clarify.
The bolder colour scheme tends to return about in males in the course of the breeding season, which occurs throughout spring and summer time.
While Florida is fraught with different small lizards like geckos, UF researcher Dr. Steve Johnson says there are some methods to inform them aside.
“Peters’s rock agama are larger than most geckos in Florida (note we only have one native species of gecko),” Johnson explains. “The agama have spiny scales and a somewhat rough appearance, whereas our geckos have small, flat scales and look much smoother. Also, Peters’s rock agama are active during the day, but the geckos are active mainly at night.”
HOW CAN I SPOT ONE?
While many individuals in South and Central Florida could have already seen certainly one of these lizards, they don’t often stray removed from some form of hiding place.
According to consultants on the University of Florida, they will usually be seen on:
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building partitions
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fences
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tree trunks
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sidewalks
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curbs
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pavements
“At one site near Punta Gorda, they live around a highway overpass and take refuge in the gaps between the concrete construction of the overpass,” the college’s web site reads. “They are wary of people and quickly flee if approached too closely.”
WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?
These lizards had been first launched to the Sunshine State through the pet commerce within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, and so they’ve since unfold quickly by means of the southwest nook of the state.
The southern areas of Florida are likely to have a hotter local weather just like their native East Africa, Johnson says. But the colder winters in North Florida and the panhandle restrict how far they will unfold.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Peters’s rock agama have been sighted within the following counties:
CAN I KEEP ONE AS A PET?
The Peters’s rock agama is taken into account Class III wildlife, that means {that a} allow is required to have them for exhibition or sale, the FWC states.
Despite that, a allow is not required to maintain one as a private pet.
However, the FWC urges house owners to not let these lizards unfastened, as they’re nonetheless thought of an invasive species. Instead, house owners can give up an undesirable pet agama by means of the FWC’s Exotic Pet Amnesty Program.
ARE THEY DANGEROUS?
Johnson explains that these agama don’t pose a danger if eaten by pets, however they might doubtlessly chunk.
“This would most likely just startle the pet, but not hurt it,” Johnson informed News 6. “People need to be encouraged to keep their pet cats indoors, by the way. But that is a story for another day.”
ARE THEY BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
Johnson stated that there was little analysis on the Peters’s rock agama, although it seems “unlikely” that they’ve had any main impacts.
“This is mainly because they only occur in suburban areas that are dominated by people and development,” the University of Florida says. “As a result, there is little potential for Peters’s rock agama to compete with native species for food or space.”
Despite that, UF consultants counsel that they could have the “potential to negatively impact imperiled butterflies” in South Florida and the Florida Keys.
“Regardless, they are not native and should not be here,” Johnson states.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I SEE ONE?
Researchers are nonetheless attempting to achieve extra understanding of the impression of nonnative species within the state.
As a outcome, they depend on “citizen scientists” to assist establish when ne w populations spring up or when current populations increase, the University of Florida explains.
Florida residents who spot a Peters’s rock agama can report the sighting by clicking right here.
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