Nile Monitor

There are many Nile Monitors in the 450 miles of canal in Cape Coral..We have seen pictures, heard stories and looked forward to seeing one in real life. Two days ago Theresa was driving on a road across the canal closest to us and saw this animal crossing the road. As she approached this animal Theresa knew it was a monitor. About 6 or 7 feet in length with a snake like appearance there was no mistaken what she was seeing.

I wish I had been there. The monitor ran up the driveway of a vacant house and Theresa stopped to get a better look. It moved close to the  wall of the house and lay down. Theresa did not approach it as their bite is dangerous. That was the first sighting we had and a sign that they are on the increase. Some estimates are up to 7,000 in our area but since their food supply has been good so far they rarely leave the water.

They are good swimmers, can climb trees and eat anything they can get a hold of. Fish, turtles, small alligators, birds and small pets are in danger when they are hungry.They found their way here in Cape Coral as a released pet and multiplied rapidly as they have no real enemy. Their situation is the same as the snake problem in the everglades where huge numbers of snakes have habitat ed most of that National Park. They got there after a hurricane destroyed a business which sold huge snakes. Nature is fragile and now we have a foreign animal  roaming these areas and killing off many of the local wildlife.