While on a beach-hunting road trip in the Vero Beach area I spotted this large and unusual lizard at a beach access. I had never see one of these before. It was fairly cautious and kept its distance from me. Ultimately, when I got too close it raised up off the ground and started running on its back legs!
I’ve since discovered that this is a Brown Basilisk, and is not native to Florida. They were first observed in southeast Florida in 1976, according to the FloridaConservation.org website.
Now, it seems they have taken up residence in the Naples area as well. No doubt the were brought over by someone who thought they were cool.
Not cool.
Lizards like these help destroy local bird populations by feeding on eggs and young nestlings.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Never seen one of these before. Thanks for the pic!
I saw one of these running on it’s hind legs in my drive-way today. Looked like a road-runner at first. I live in north west Broward county.
I saw one of these on August 10 2009 in a parking lot at Vanderbilt Beach, in the greater Naples area.
A nasty critter, it was running at sparrows who were rummaging for crumbs, as they jumped to fly the lizard would try to snatch one out of the air!
Hi Bob! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I can imagine that the lush foliage in Naples would be prime habitat for big lizards like these. And from everything I’ve read, the worst part about these foreign transplants is that they absolutely decimate the local bird and small mammal population by preying on eggs and young. You are an eye witness to that.
Just saw one of these creatures running across a two lane street just south of Atlantic Blvd. in Broward County. Couldn’t believe my eyes and had to double back in my car to see where it ran to! Truely a strange sight to see.
Hi,
I live in the Dania Beach area of S. Florida. I saw one of these guys this morning. It is the first time I have seen one up close but he was too fast to get a picture. It took me a while to identify him. My backyard is quite a wonderous spot for critters. Two weeks ago I photographed a Giant Day Gecko from Madagascar!! That Geiko Lizard really does get around!!
i live in loxahatchee and have them all over the property
Fiancee and I saw one when taking our Golden Retriever about 10 minutes ago. We live in Pembroke Pines, just over 2 miles North of the Dade County line. Interesting enough to send me on a search to find out what species it was. He was sunning himself on a TV dish. Probably about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long.
Found one of these guys in my garage this week. when I finally got him out of the garage, he stood up on his hind legs and bolted across my driveway. I freaked at what i had just witnessed. My husband wasn’t believing my story so I came to the web to prove my sanity. Glad I found these posts. Should I report this to any official agency? I live in St. Pete Beach, on the bay.
You should probably call Florida Fish and Wildlife to report your sighting. They like to keep track of where these lizards are and whether they’ve established a breeding population. I’m not sure, but I believe the St. Pete Beach area is further north than these lizards have generally been observed, so it may be important information.
Lizard Line: Residents of Central and South Florida can call 866-549-5463 to report sightings of nonnative lizards and snakes in the wild. Source: http://myfwc.com/contact/Contact_hotline.htm
One of these guys now lives in my backyard in Cooper City, actually there are smaller babies as well. We have seen it chasing our squirrels and the rest of our local lizards and anouls are no where to be found. Nasty and aggressive this one is. Would love to figure out how to get it gone.
I have seen three in Boynton Beach
We have basilisk lizard living in our attic. Please help! This is become extremely annoying since they have taker over our hose.
You need to call one of the local nuisance animal removal services. They’ll take care of it.
We saw one in our backyard next to the pool soaking up some sun. It ran on its hind legs across the pool and then went down to the bottom. Our dog patiently waited for it to surface when she then yanked it out of the pool by its neck, and mortally wounded it. Any way this thing was eating my wife’s tomatoes in her garden, so good riddence. We live in Coral Springs
I had one in my drivway in Lake Worth, FL 33467 on May 23, 2011. I took a bunch of photos of it. Beautiful little creature!
Just spotted one like this in my backyard in Parkland and took a photo. It was about 2.5 feet head to tail.
I live in Loxahatchee, FL & have just recently been spotting these critters all around the yard. My 10 year old son has just made his 3rd catch in the last 3 weeks. 2 of them ran in the house and he had to catch them to get them out, the 3rd he found outside on the front widow.
I just saw one on Palm Beach island at the Breakers!
I saw one in a tree in Plantation at the Kaplan University parking lot.
One of these bastards bit my finger & I had to wear a bandage for a week. He was way over a foot long when snuck onto my 96 yr old grandmutha’s 2nd story screened balcony new years day 2012. When I covered him with a bag to remove him; he squirmed until he could latched onto my finger & ripped at it with his sharp little teeth like a baby pit-bull with a chew toy. I got him back out the hole he crawled thru safely. Next time I see him, well I owe him 1.
Huston, a sharp garden tool should do the trick;-)
strange, as ive not heard of basilisks being detrimental to native species……anyways im much more worried about feral pigs and cats impacting native species than a few exotic lizards
I definitely agree that feral pigs and cats have a larger negative impact on native species than the basilisk does. Feral pigs and cats are all over the state, while the brown basilisk is confined by temperature to south Florida. While I don’t think that any scientific studies have been done on the predatory impacts of the basilisk in south Florida, it is yet another predator to put pressure on populations of already declining populations of birds and other wildlife, so I’d rather not have them here. They are considered a nuisance species, among several other exotic lizards in south Florida http://www.themiamiplanet.org/2011/10/10/exotic-lizards-a-south-florida-nuisance/
Even worse than feral pigs, cats and lizards combined may be the threat of pythons in south Florida and the Everglades: http://www.blogthebeach.com/2012/nature/snake-in-the-grass-book-review
I’ve seen these lizards along the canals in West Palm Beach. I wasn’t sure what it was as they ran fast across the trail. This was on the trails behind south Florida waste managements admin building on the canal.