It was a busy week for a Miami-Dade County first responder who specializes in catching invasive pythons. One was first pulled from the engine of a tractor-trailer, and another was wrangled in a dark yard less than a day later.
FLORIDA – Central Florida authorities are warning residents about the increasing presence of an invasive lizard species spreading throughout the region.
The Northern curly-tailed lizard, also known as Leiocephalus carinatus, is native to the Bahamas and has been established in South Florida since the 1930s. However, the species is now making its way farther north.
Northern curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus) on a rock.
(Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
According to our affiliate FOX 35 Orlando, herpetologists say the species is now spreading throughout much of Central Florida.
“They’re becoming fairly common throughout most of Central Florida now as they are starting to move up the peninsula,” Dr. Matthew Atkinson, a herpetologist at the University of Central Florida, told FOX 35. “They’re probably here to stay.”
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Researchers said these invasive lizards can grow up to a foot long and are known for dropping their tails as a defense mechanism to escape predators.
The Northern curly-tailed lizard, also known as Leiocephalus carinatus, is native to the Bahamas and has been established in South Florida since the 1930s.
(Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The lizards are commonly found around concrete and rocky areas, including parking lots and sidewalks.
What concerns officials most is the impact these invasive species could have on native wildlife and local ecosystems.
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Northern curly-tailed lizards prey on native species, most notably the Carolina green anole. They are known to feed on smaller lizards and their eggs and can compete with native anoles for shared habitats.
Herpetologists say the Northern curly-tailed lizard is now spreading throughout much of Central Florida.
(Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
While Carolina green anoles can survive higher up in trees, away from the curly-tailed lizard’s typical range, they still lay their eggs on the ground, putting them directly in the invasive species’ territory.
Curly-tailed lizards also prey on other invasive species in Florida, including brown anoles.
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“We see a little bit of invasive-on-invasive violence, if you will, where they are actually going to be a predator for the brown anoles, which are also invasive and rapidly spreading throughout the state,” Atkinson said.
Burmese pythons were introduced to the U.S. as pets initially. They devour native animals and have very few predators. One airboat tour owner said that he rarely sees mammals across the Everglades after the python population explosions.
Luckily, officials said the species does not pose a threat to humans.
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However, wildlife officials recommend that residents report sightings to help track the spread of the invasive lizard throughout Florida.
