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The large animals are in very select areas. The big animals are not in residential areas. IF they do turn up in residential areas, they make the news. In other words, it is a rare occurence and usually an escaped animal. Some of the exceptions are neighborhoods that back up to protected land along the everglades that are like lush tropics. I am a FL native and I vacation in the Keys, S FL every year. I have never seen a wild boa, python, or tegu. The wild population of tegus is in an agricultural area because of the obvious food source. The escaped or released animals generally leave residential areas because of the commotion that people make. Now, that is a generalization and not a hard and fast rule. I also live in a suburban area north of Orlando that is notorius for black bears. They are breaking into people's garbage, etc. I have lived here for 12 years and have never seen one in the wild here in FL. But to hear the news reports, they are as common as stray cats. Heck, when they had python hunts with well known wildlife biologists and herpetologists who have spent years combing the Everglades, only 9 or 10 Burms were found. They are out there, but not like the media is portraying...slithering into everyone's neighborhoods.

What you do see in S FL are tons of iguanas. There are green ameivas and crested geckos. Tons of geckos of all kinds, lots of anoles and invasive frogs. We are swamped (no pun intended) with invasive fish such as tilapia, armored catfish, etc. There was a caiman nest found once close to the glades, but I think they were quickly eradicated. There are acres of palm tree farms, tropical plant farms, state land, state and national parks, indian reservations, etc. And it is all very subtropical to tropical in nature. Once you get south of Orlando, the climate is subtropical, but the land is pine flats. None of those reptiles are found here. The tegus in Central FL are inland near the strawberry farms and other produce/cattle farms.

I haven't seen the show and I wasn't going to watch it. However, now I feel obligated to see it. I drove to Daytona yesterday for a reptile birthday party presentation. When it came time to show my tegu, I asked if anyone knew what it was. I never ask becasue no one ever knows the answer, but this was a bunch of 6-10 yo boys. I thought I would give them a chance. One boy says, "Oh, I know what that is, it's a tegu!" I was really surprised and asked him how he knew the answer. He told me that he just saw them on Animal Planet. A few parents kinda nodded and they were talking about them being really aggressive. Well, my tegu is justing sitting there and I'm holding her with one arm like a football. Someone said, "She doesn't look very aggressive." So I told them a bit about TV sensationalism and about tegus. Then the kids got to pet her back as I took her around and she walked on the ground a bit. Tomorrow I have my first of 6 or 7 library presentations and then there's the summer camps. Somehow I think this tegu topic is going to come up more often. In one TV show, it has gone from no one ever hearing of tegus to people thinking they are vicious, terrible creatures. Media = 1, Reptiles = 0.

Well, just wanted to share a bit about what you will see down here. I didn't mean for it to sound like a rant, but Animal Planet gets me kind of riled up lately, lol.

<blockquote data-quote="laurarfl" data-source="post: 83507" data-attributes="member: 401">The large animals are in very select areas.&nbsp; The big animals are not in residential areas.&nbsp; IF they do turn up in residential areas, they make the news.&nbsp; In other words, it is a rare occurence and usually an escaped animal.&nbsp; Some of the exceptions are neighborhoods that back up to protected land along the everglades that are like lush tropics.&nbsp; I am a FL native and I vacation in the Keys, S FL every year.&nbsp; I have never seen a wild boa, python, or tegu.&nbsp; The wild population of tegus is in an agricultural area because of the obvious food source.&nbsp; The escaped or released animals generally leave residential areas because of the commotion that people make.&nbsp; Now, that is a generalization and not a hard and fast rule.&nbsp; I also live in a suburban area north of Orlando that is notorius for black bears.&nbsp; They are breaking into people's garbage, etc.&nbsp; I have lived here for 12 years and have never seen one in the wild here in FL.&nbsp; But to hear the news reports, they are as common as stray cats.&nbsp; Heck, when they had python hunts with well known wildlife biologists and herpetologists who have spent years combing the Everglades, only 9 or 10 Burms were found.&nbsp; They are out there, but not like the media is portraying...slithering into everyone's neighborhoods.What you do see in S FL are tons of iguanas.&nbsp; There are green ameivas and crested geckos.&nbsp; Tons of geckos of all kinds, lots of anoles and invasive frogs.&nbsp; We are swamped (no pun intended) with invasive fish such as tilapia, armored catfish, etc.&nbsp; There was a caiman nest found once close to the glades, but I think they were quickly eradicated.&nbsp; There are acres of palm tree farms, tropical plant farms, state land, state and national parks, indian reservations, etc.&nbsp; And it is all very subtropical to tropical in nature.&nbsp; Once you get south of Orlando, the climate is subtropical, but the land is pine flats.&nbsp; None of those reptiles are found here.&nbsp; The tegus in Central FL are inland near the strawberry farms and other produce/cattle farms.I haven't seen the show and I wasn't going to watch it.&nbsp; However, now I feel obligated to see it.&nbsp; I drove to Daytona yesterday for a reptile birthday party presentation.&nbsp; When it came time to show my tegu, I asked if anyone knew what it was.&nbsp; I never ask becasue no one ever knows the answer, but this was a bunch of 6-10 yo boys.&nbsp; I thought I would give them a chance.&nbsp; One boy says, &quot;Oh, I know what that is, it's a tegu!&quot; I was really surprised and asked him how he knew the answer.&nbsp; He told me that he just saw them on Animal Planet.&nbsp; A few parents kinda nodded and they were talking about them being really aggressive.&nbsp; Well, my tegu is justing sitting there and I'm holding her with one arm like a football.&nbsp; Someone said, &quot;She doesn't look very aggressive.&quot;&nbsp; So I told them a bit about TV sensationalism and about tegus.&nbsp; Then the kids got to pet her back as I took her around and she walked on the ground a bit. Tomorrow I have my first of 6 or 7 library presentations and then there's the summer camps.&nbsp; Somehow I think this tegu topic is going to come up more often.&nbsp; In one TV show, it has gone from no one ever hearing of tegus to people thinking they are vicious, terrible creatures.&nbsp; Media = 1, Reptiles = 0. Well, just wanted to share a bit about what you will see down here.&nbsp; I didn't mean for it to sound like a rant, but Animal Planet gets me kind of riled up lately, lol.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="laurarfl, post: 83507, member: 401"] The large animals are in very select areas. The big animals are not in residential areas. IF they do turn up in residential areas, they make the news. In other words, it is a rare occurence and usually an escaped animal. Some of the exceptions are neighborhoods that back up to protected land along the everglades that are like lush tropics. I am a FL native and I vacation in the Keys, S FL every year. I have never seen a wild boa, python, or tegu. The wild population of tegus is in an agricultural area because of the obvious food source. The escaped or released animals generally leave residential areas because of the commotion that people make. Now, that is a generalization and not a hard and fast rule. I also live in a suburban area north of Orlando that is notorius for black bears. They are breaking into people's garbage, etc. I have lived here for 12 years and have never seen one in the wild here in FL. But to hear the news reports, they are as common as stray cats. Heck, when they had python hunts with well known wildlife biologists and herpetologists who have spent years combing the Everglades, only 9 or 10 Burms were found. They are out there, but not like the media is portraying...slithering into everyone's neighborhoods. What you do see in S FL are tons of iguanas. There are green ameivas and crested geckos. Tons of geckos of all kinds, lots of anoles and invasive frogs. We are swamped (no pun intended) with invasive fish such as tilapia, armored catfish, etc. There was a caiman nest found once close to the glades, but I think they were quickly eradicated. There are acres of palm tree farms, tropical plant farms, state land, state and national parks, indian reservations, etc. And it is all very subtropical to tropical in nature. Once you get south of Orlando, the climate is subtropical, but the land is pine flats. None of those reptiles are found here. The tegus in Central FL are inland near the strawberry farms and other produce/cattle farms. I haven't seen the show and I wasn't going to watch it. However, now I feel obligated to see it. I drove to Daytona yesterday for a reptile birthday party presentation. When it came time to show my tegu, I asked if anyone knew what it was. I never ask becasue no one ever knows the answer, but this was a bunch of 6-10 yo boys. I thought I would give them a chance. One boy says, "Oh, I know what that is, it's a tegu!" I was really surprised and asked him how he knew the answer. He told me that he just saw them on Animal Planet. A few parents kinda nodded and they were talking about them being really aggressive. Well, my tegu is justing sitting there and I'm holding her with one arm like a football. Someone said, "She doesn't look very aggressive." So I told them a bit about TV sensationalism and about tegus. Then the kids got to pet her back as I took her around and she walked on the ground a bit. Tomorrow I have my first of 6 or 7 library presentations and then there's the summer camps. Somehow I think this tegu topic is going to come up more often. In one TV show, it has gone from no one ever hearing of tegus to people thinking they are vicious, terrible creatures. Media = 1, Reptiles = 0. Well, just wanted to share a bit about what you will see down here. I didn't mean for it to sound like a rant, but Animal Planet gets me kind of riled up lately, lol. [/QUOTE]

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