Nile Monitor Lizards Invade Cape Coral (Tallahassee, Punta Gorda: foreclosure, credit, houses)

[Songbird42]

There is an interesting article in todays St. Pete Times and they talk about the invasion of Nile Monitor Lizards and they seem to be winning the invasion.
With 400 miles of man made canals, there are over 1,000 Lizards or more roaming, nesting in the area. I'm providing a link to the story.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environ...cle1011745.ece

[Compression]

Great article. Have to say, while I've seen a few of the large iguanas here in the south part of town, I havent seen a monitor yet. So I suspect they are likely still most active up in the north parts for now. That also means they will be fanning out to the north, towards Punta Gorda Isles, and Charlotte county. Add the seemingly growing problem with pythons in the area lately, and we've really managed to muck this place up pretty badly.
The article does a good job of pointing out some of the Cape's other woes as well. The phrase "speculative fever to spectacular failure" deserves credit.....

[samjune2009]

"We're in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Florida is worse off than most of the rest of the country. Cape Coral is worse off than most of the rest of Florida.

The value of property in Lee County dropped in the 2008-09 tax year by $30 billion. There are still an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 houses in some stage of foreclosure.

The population of Cape Coral, according to the city, peaked a year and a half ago at more than 177,691. It's now almost 10,000 less. The people here say the dip feels steeper than that.

Here's where the lizards come in.

"The less people here," said Harry Phillips, a biologist for the city, "the less sightings we have."

The city in the past couple years used to get about 40 calls a month. Now: more like 18 to 20.

Monitors trapped: 69 in '07, 45 in '08, 17 so far in '09.

"In this economy," Phillips said, "there isn't going to be a widespread trapping effort right now."

"That's kind of been the most frustrating part of this," said Scott Hardin, the exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Tallahassee. "There's no pot of money." "


This part was the best!
Thank you for this link! The journalist is great!