5-foot lizards are eating Florida's cats

Some more bad news for reptile industry!

Ah, Florida: the home of sun, sand, and cat-eating lizards.

State wildlife officials are increasing the hunt for Nile monitor lizards, which can grow more than five feet long. Officials believe thousands of Nile monitor lizards are loose in Florida, and they've recently begun terrorizing Palm Beach County. Since July 2014, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has caught 20 Nile monitor lizards, but they've got plenty more to go.

Nile monitor lizards aren't native to Florida — they're actually found in Africa, but the lizards have made their way to Florida through the exotic pet trade. Unfortunately, Florida's warm climate has been a natural fit for the lizards, and they've been eating local wildlife, including owls and reptiles, as well as cats, The Sun-Sentinel reports. If you needed another reason not to release an exotic pet into the wild, it doesn't get much more terrifying than this.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the...d=ansTheWeek11

Bad news but personally I'd rather look out my window and see a 5 foot lizard than a stray cat.

Just let the Burmese pythons eat them. That should solve the problem....

We don't need stray cats anyway.

I'm surprised they didn't use the term "kitties"

I admit I had to chuckle when I saw that article today.

There are more than a few feral cats where I live. One male in particular howls outside my windows at night. He's actually a friendly little guy who was probably someone's pet till he grew a set. I made the mistake of petting him a couple times when he was in my yard a couple weeks ago. He sprayed all over my front porch and on my car tires and yeah, it stunk!

Although I would much prefer monitors roaming, I'm not sure if I would prefer a monitor eat the irresponsible human or the neglected feline.

Given all the damage feral cats do to native species you'd think they'd pin a medal on the monitors..... it's biological control

People are apparently on the "if it isn't native, then it has to be bad" kick lately.

What I get a chuckle out of is that whenever they try to define the term "native" they have to draw some sort of arbitrary line in the sand separating "native" from "non-native". The truly funny part is that it is "non-natives" that are actually drawing that line, just deciding where to put it so that THEY are on the "native" side.

Lmao Florida has such a problem with invasive species because it's climate is great for so many of them. Not great for me though and I've lived in this horrid state my whole life.

Originally Posted by ShawneeAlice

Lmao Florida has such a problem with invasive species because it's climate is great for so many of them. Not great for me though and I've lived in this horrid state my whole life.

What makes it so "horrid" to you? I've been here for about 24 years and like it just fine.