Concerned 4 the health of the wild brown anoles on my lanai

Hi All, (and I apologize in advance for the length of this post)

I’m new here, and registered today because I’m concerned for the well being of the wild brown anoles who live in our Naples, FL. lanai. I have great affection for the lizards, and can identify nearly all them who hang out nearest the house. There is a 50 foot long bank of floor to ceiling windows & sliding glass doors facing the lanai, so I have a great view of what goes on out there. The lanai itself is screened in, but has lots of areas w/ lush vegetation & trees, as well as a paved, stone surface. The lizards spend much of the day out in the open, on the stone, and, of course, they hang out in the vegetation as well. There are about 15 that I see regularly, and I can identify most of them easily. This past Monday, Truly Nolen Pest Control came to service the house. As I do every time, I told the man NOT to use anything on the lanai, due to my concern for the lizards, and usually he complies, but this time I was HORRIFIED to find him on the lanai soaking the plant life where the lizards retreat and the lower area of the sliding glass doors, where they also spend a lot of time, with pesticide spray. The doors & tracks were so wet after he finished that it looked like someone had sprayed them with a water hose. I was terribly upset. The man assured me that the spray was 100% safe and that a single lizard would have to absorb 50 gallons of the stuff for any harm to occur. (As an aside, I remember asking him a few years ago if the pesticide would harm the lizards and his reply was, “Do you want it to harm them?”, which sounded suspicious and really unnerved me - either it would or would not harm them! He just wanted to make sure he gave me the answer I wanted to hear, which is what I fear he was doing when he said it would not harm them this time…). The minute he left, I gathered a bucket, sponge & mop, and set out to try to clean up what I could. Unfortunately, many of the anoles were already out & about in the sprayed areas. Of course, my very presence caused them to retreat and I did what I could to remove the spray, but I fear it was not enough. There was still lizard activity that same afternoon (Mon.), but, the next day (Tues.), I noticed that there were dramatically fewer lizards around. I saw only 3 all day, which is something that I’ve never experienced. Since Tue., I’ve still not seen more than the same 3 out there (and Fri I saw only 1) and 1 of the 3 is a new resident…

In addition to spraying my lanai when specifically instructed not to, the exterminator left the door open and let in a new lizard. This new resident is the biggest female I’ve ever seen and immediately started acting like a bully. The reigning “Queen of the Lanai” is called Rusty (she has a red head, like the lizard another poster was inquiring about, but I digress…). Rusty has ruled the lanai for well over a year and is ALWAYS out there. On Monday afternoon, a couple of hours after the spraying, this bully started gunning for Rusty, who bolted into a grass plant w/ the aggressor in hot pursuit. After that incident, Rusty was not seen.

Concurrent with the above incidents came a cooling in the weather. Tuesday reached a high only in the mid 70s (whereas the weather had previously been in the 80’s & 90s). Yesterday was a bit warmer than that, and today the high was 83. Also, the evenings are much cooler.

Yes, all of this is leading somewhere – a plea for knowledgeable opinions as to why I have seen only 3 lizards on my lanai since Monday. Could it be the spraying? Are they all terrified of the new bellicose bully in town and afraid to come out into the open, where the bully is now often seen? Or, might the 1st onset of cooler weather have caused a mass retreat? I just hope they’re all alive and well, but I’m really worried. Any info would be much appreciated. Please help if you can, and thanks for reading this long-winded post.
Best Regards,
RR

Wow, what a long detailed helpful post. I want to thank you for putting all of the information in the first time!

As for why your lizard numbers appear to have decreased it could be any combination of the afore mentioned factors. They could just be stressed by change in activity (the exterminator's mere presence) They could be repeled by the smell or other properties of the actual spray. They could be stressed out by the upset in their delecate social structure presented by the new lizard. And finally they could be affected by the cooler weather. I would say that you covered all of your bases and it could be anything you mentioned. If they were just bothered by the spray guy then they should slowly trickle back, but I would expect their activity to lessen if the weather stays cooler. I wish you the best of luck with them and I hope they all find their way back into a normal schedule!

Hello,

I have another take on what could be going on. Animals like to reside in areas where food is plentiful. Seeing as insecticides/pesticides were used, the food source in that area just diminished rapidly. If the food they are acustomed too is not present, they will need to find an alternative food source. That may require them relocating until the insecticides and pesticides are washed away enough where their prey can return.

You can do a bit of research though to learn more about what was used, how safe it is, etc. Call the exterminators office and ask them what chemicals were sprayed in and around your house. You have a right to know that information, so don't let them shun you out. If they attempt to, simply tell them that if they don't give you the information you will contact the BB (Better Business Bureau) and the Attorney General. (If they still don't tell you, contact me on the site via the PM system.)

Write them down and look them up online. You should be able to find out all sorts of information about the chemicals. Their are databases online for that type of stuff.

Please keep us posted!

Welcome to HCN! I certainly understand how upset you must be! I would be furious! The possibilities of why they've disappeared have already been mentioned so I won't repeat them, but I sure hope the lizards return for you. Good luck with finding out what was in the spray. As Rich said, you do have a right to know.

Welcome to Herp Center. I guess with what has all ready been said, I would also contact the owner of the company and inform him that his employee did not follow your instructions. I would consider using another company. Before any company comes out to spray I would have in writing where they could and couldn't spray and have this signed by the owner and the employee. I sorry your friends have disappeared; I'm hoping they will return in the near future. Keep us posted.

Originally Posted by Colleen i.e. Sean's Mom

Before any company comes out to spray I would have in writing where they could and couldn't spray and have this signed by the owner and the employee.

That's a very good idea!

Thank you all so much for all the information, suggestions, and kind words of sympathy.
I am definitely going to take action w/ the exterminator, and do what I can to make sure this does not happen again. They are closed on the weekends, but come Mon. Morn., I’m reading them the riot act and will take the excellent advice given by Rich & Colleen to make sure this never happens again . I went to a pet store today and spoke w/ a man who happened to know a great deal about the brown anoles here and their habits. He told me that, no matter what the exterminator may say, if a spray is lethal enough to kill insects, it can be lethal to the lizards as well. I’m still holding out hope that they are just in hiding, but I fear the worst, as they were out & about right after the exterminator left, & 4/5ths of them were gone the next day and have remained MIA. Unfortunately, I’m sure they did not re-locate to find food because the lanai is completely enclosed (except when someone leaves the door open, like that blasted exterminator did – letting in the bully). Since the mass disappearance, as mentioned, I’ve seen only 3 lizards at varying times – the bully, a ½ size young female, and a teeny female, approx. 1.25”L (not incl. tail). Even though it was only in the mid 70s today & cloudy, that teeny, skinny baby girl was out on the pavers having a grand old time eating bugs for quite a long while, as was the ½ size ( I simulated a rainstorm in all areas of the lanai yesterday w/ a hose & sprayer attachment, and we had a good, hard rain courtesy of Mother Nature last night, so maybe that helped the bug population - the lizards find lots of tasty bug action in the cracks of the pavers, where water collects). I think it’s possible that the 3 I’ve seen since Tue. may have somehow escaped the spray (maybe they were so deep into the plantings it did not reach them?) The little one is so small, I’m sure she would have been extremely vulnerable to the spray, if exposed. Because this little one, who has no meat on her bones, can enjoy herself outside in mid 70s overcast weather, I’m pretty sure the others would be out there too, - if they were still alive & well. I really miss my favorites, especially Rusty – they are like pets to me and I am very sad that they are MIA. Just in case they are still in there hiding somewhere, I took the advice of a very kind lady and placed blobs of peach baby food all over the place (as deep into the plantings as I could get), and I also heard that Pedialyte can provide sustenance, so I placed little jar lids filled w/ that , as well as containers of plain water, all through the plantings. Maybe this is all for naught, but I have explore every avenue I can to help my buddies, if they are still in there.

Again, I truly appreciate the assistance I have received from everyone here.
Thank You,
RR

sounds like you're covering all of your bases... what an awful thing! I hope all of your friends are okay and just hiding, I think the baby food for them is a really good idea.

GIVE THOSE PEOPLE **** ON MONDAY! and be sure to let us know what you find out!

sorry to hear about what happened. that really stinks. hopefully they'll come back and you can give those jerks a piece of your mind. i would also be angry with them for doing something they weren't supposed to.