From http://www.thedrillpress.com/tex/2008-11-01/tex-2008-11-01-splinter-bgreenwood-04.shtml
AA reader Jim Jackson writes:
“I would like to suggest a topic for a post on Anole Annals: Has anyone besides me observed a collapse in “their” local A. carolinensis population? I live near Tallahassee, Florida, and have always had a large population of Green Anoles on my property; during September, 2011, there were at least 30 individuals around my house and on shrubs and small trees in the yard. Even in May, 2012, there were a dozen. Yesterday around noon I found an emaciated hatchling under a cover object. Very odd. I searched the property for active anoles and found none.
There has been a moderate drought here since 2010, and the larger-bodied flying insects (bees/butterflies) on flowers seem less abundant than in 2009. Reduced food resources could explain a population decline, but the drastic change on my one acre seems hard to attribute solely to starvation. There are no sagrei on my property.”
Anyone got any thoughts?
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Philip M. Fortman
Have you checked during the first hours after dawn? Here in southeast Florida I have noticed Anole midday activity stop when the higher temperatures of Summer started. Both A. carolinensis and A. sagrei are active during the entire day in the Winter months.
Barbara
I haven’t noticed any decrease in anoles at my house on 1100 acres just 15 miles north of Tallahassee. I’ve been seeing a lot of blue tailed skinks lately, and some fence lizards. Still more anoles than anything else. I have never seen any geckos here. I have seen them at my mother’s house in midtown Tallahassee though. Those are new aren’t they?
Bill Bateman
I wouldn’t have thought a moderate drought would knock carolinensis back, especially around a house with watered plant beds etc. In central Florida I see carolinensis out in the Lake Wales scrub in the blasting heat. In my garden carolinensis maintains a low population in the face of many many sagrei, but they seemed to take longer to recover after the cold winter we had two years back. There were dead anoles all over place then, especially in stacked plant pots where I guess they had tried to sleep at night.
Ron St. Romain
I live in Plano Texas 20 miles north of Dallas. This spring when the weather warmed up
i only saw 2 or 3. They all seem to have vanished. I’ve always been able to spot 10 to 15
any time i’ve gone out looking for them. Of course we have extremely hot dry summers. I’ve seen anoles drinking out the bird bath and come out of the shrubs for a drink when I hand water. We were always having to catch one that made into the house. Im disappointed. I hope they recover.
Ron
Ann V
Here in Bryan, Tx I have noticed a severe decline in anoles in my normally anole-filled yard. I saw them earlier in the summer (in May), but they have all but disappeared now (and I have been actively searching for them). My yard receives a lot of water and even during past droughts, I still had plenty of anoles. I have also noticed two other things. My fire ants are disappearing, but I do now see the raspberry “crazy ants”. I was wondering if the appearance of the highly invasive crazy ants might be a reason why my anoles are gone? (I know they do affect number of fire ants). Has anyone else noticed this correlation?
Armando Pou
Hi Ann,
I’m not sure about those “crazy ants” you mentioned but here in south Florida there is a species of big head ants (not sure why they call them that as only the soldiers have big heads and they are few), the species is Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius). A well known pest tramp ant which has been introduced throughout the world. P. megacephala occurs in central and southern Florida and can form extremely large populations. Periodically there are population booms and they wipe out everything they can catch. Two years ago was the last time this happened and I lost a lot of hatchling anoles. But those losses occurred in cages where the lizards couldn’t escape. I cannot say that I have ever seen them catch and kill a wild anole. BTW- They are fascinating ants, even though they don’t have stingers they effectively wipe out fire ant colonies. Several species of smaller ants also wipe out the fire ants even the seemingly harmless “black crazy ant” (Paratrechina longicornis). Those are just personal observations.
Take care,
Armando
Ann V
Thanks for your reply! I have heard of those big headed ants. One recent article said they were making their way to TX! The “crazy ants” are Rasberry ants (named so by a guy named Rasberry) and they come from South America. They are supposed to be pretty bad for local wildlife. Fortunately since I posted, I have seen at least 2 baby anoles and one older. Not as many as I usually see, but it’s better than none! Sorry about your poor hatchling anoles 🙁
Armando Pou
Thanks Ann. I’ve since devised a way to foil the attacks of all ants. Basically I place the legs of the cages in small dishes and fill the dishes with a half inch or so of used motor oil. As in all animal husbandry or livestock management, even losses are learning experiences. 🙂
Matt
I noticed it here in SoEastFla. But my case could be unique. In our community there are suddenly many basilisks (used to see only one a few years ago), and recently knight anoles. Even the brown anoles are not as numerous. Greens were always rare to see, now practically gone.
Weird…
Kathy Collins
Here in Central Florida, all of the green anoles are gone and have been for at least a year or two. We still have lots of brown anoles, but I miss the greens. I have no idea what has happened to the green anoles, although I know we have quite a shortage of water.
Brenda
My green anoles have dissapeared completely, possibly due to the influx of two invasive species, the Puerto Rican Crested Anole and the Brown Anole. I live in north Florida north of town, a mating pair of Puerto Rican Crested Anoles showed up 3 months ago on my patio, and two weeks later my Green Anoles finally dissapeared. I had been noticing quite a healthy population of PRCA in the downtown area and was wondering how long it would take for the poulation to spread to my area. I have spotted what appears to be a PRCA on my patio, but the adults seemed to have dissapeared. The upside is that I have a pair of five lined skinks that have taken up residency on my patio, this is the first time in years that I have seen skinks in my area.