according to a report from our sister station WKMG in Orlando. <\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThey\u2019re huge. They\u2019re so big. They look like mini dinosaurs,\u201d Brady Deluca said. \u201cThat\u2019s so dramatic, I know, but they are so disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City of Cape Canaveral recently shared a message saying Brevard County is asking for help spotting Argentine black and white tegus, an invasive species that state wildlife officials say can threaten native wildlife.<\/p>\n
Deluca recently captured video of one of the large lizards crossing a road in her neighborhood and heading toward a canal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOH NO, IT\u2019S BACK,\u201d she recalled thinking.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because this wasn\u2019t her first encounter with one.<\/p>\n
Last year, Deluca said a smaller tegu somehow ended up inside a neighbor\u2019s crab trap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to trap it. Failed miserably. Got in the water,\u201d she said. \u201cWe learned they\u2019re great swimmers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her neighbor showed News 6 the trap where the lizard was found before escaping.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think those traps are a little over 24 inches, so he was probably close to three foot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Deluca says she\u2019s used to sharing her Lake Poinsett neighborhood with alligators, but these lizards are another story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re used to the gators because they\u2019re here and they don\u2019t bother us. We don\u2019t bother them,\u201d she said. \u201cBut these are new and different. And I don\u2019t like them.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Argentine black and white tegus can grow to nearly 5 feet long. The agency says the invasive lizards are strong swimmers and have been documented eating the eggs of native wildlife, including alligators and sea turtles.<\/p>\n
That worries Deluca, who recently watched a pair of sandhill cranes raise two chicks near her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had two babies here for a couple weeks, and now they only have one,\u201d Deluca said. \u201cNow I\u2019m going to sit here and worry that one of the tegus got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, she hopes she won\u2019t have to worry about seeing any more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to think that no more show up,\u201d Deluca said. \u201cThat would make my day.\u201d<\/p>\n
FWC encourages anyone who spots a tegu to take a picture, note the location and report the sighting through the IveGot1 app or the Exotic Species Hotline. The agency advises people not to try to handle the animals themselves.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COCOA, Fla. \u2013 People who live around Lake Poinsett are used to seeing alligators But one homeowner says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1684,1563,28,30,29,4615,29046,132984],"class_list":["post-320591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-animals","tag-environment","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-invasive-species","tag-lizard","tag-tegu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}