Almost a tale of "lizard tragedy" in my greenhouse!

[Daintree]

I have a few anoles out in my greenhouse to keep the ant population down. I bought them for $3 each at the pet store this summer, and they are a delight to watch as they leap around, licking up pests.

But yesterday, I walked out to my greenhouse and was greeted with one of my high velocity ceiling fans making a whhhrrrrr...TICK......whhhrrrrr...TICK noise.  Looking up, I was horrified to see one of the anoles intermittently flying around inside the fan cage as his poor little body hit the blades.

Screaming, I ran to the breaker and shut everything off, then grabbed a ladder to retrieve the presumably mangled corpse.
But before I could climb up . . . thump. . . the body fell out of the fan grating and onto the ground.

I reached down to pick it up, and boy was I happily surprised when he ran up my arm onto my shoulder!  If a lizard could have a wild look in his eye, this little tyke had one!  His color was a mottled patchwork of green and brown, and he was actually panting, but amazingly, there was not a mark on him!

The only thing I could figure was that he was so lightweight, the fan was just throwing him around instead of chopping him up! I hope he learned his lesson, but I doubt it.

Blessed Thanksgiving!

Carolyn

[brian]

Right after I put the button quails out in my greenhouse I found a small snake inside.  No idea how it got in there, the greenhouse foundation is a solid wall.  It was too small to eat even a button quail but I wonder if there could be more.

I used to have some toads inside but I put them out after 6mo or so.

[Jaboticaba45]

That is so smart. I should buy some lizards for my greenhouse. I do put my chickens inside from time to time to clear out pests. It helps, but they don't eat the spiders that attack me with webs every time I go inside. And they don't eat the ants on my mango flowers.

[Daintree]

Brian,
I have put a couple of little garter snakes in my greenhouse, but they always disappear.  I think they open the door at night...  hope your quail are all doing well!

Jaboticaba45,
Both Brian and I have tiny quail in our greenhouses.  They are AWESOME for insect cleanup!  Every time I move a pot they come running to eat the bugs.  They are especially fond of little beetles and centipedes.
Mine are Chinese Painted Quail, also called King Quail. They "laugh" a lot, which always makes me smile.

I have been very happy with the anoles.  They are total murder on ants.  They eat the spiders too, which doesn't thrill me, but I guess it is survival of the fastest! The anoles WERE getting a bit hungry after they cleaned up the ant population (I could see their ribs...), so I captured them one day and tossed them in a plastic tub with a bunch of crickets.  One of them managed to shove three crickets in his mouth at once!  So I figure I will just catch them every so often and feed them.  I tried turning crickets loose in the greenhouse, but the quail gobbled them up before the anoles found them.  The anoles like to be way up high and the crickets stay on the ground.

The only issue I have had with wildlife in the greenhouse is that I think I may have a jaguar problem.  A couple of people have gone missing out there...

Cheers!
Carolyn

[Pandan]

I LOVE the idea of greenhouse guardians cute and smart! I want to get a green house in the coming year I hope I remember this when I do.
I'm glad little buddy was ok too.

[elouicious]

Just be careful or your fowl will eat newly sprouted seeds

(in my experience only the rarest and most expensive ones) 

[Mike T]

My week has been filled with reptile in the yard issues so bnb it's happening all over.

[Daintree]

Beautiful!
Carpet python and green tree snake?

Carolyn

[Mike T]

Found a carpet a few weeks ago and I am showing it to someone here. They were amethystine and common tree snakes. Of all the local snakes I would only see maybe only 10 species around the yard.

[Daintree]

Wonderful to see non-lethal Aussie snakes!!!

[Jaboticaba45]

Daintree,
now I want to put some quails in my greenhouse . Where did you source them from? Any special requirements for the birds?
Thanks,
Ryan

[Kevin Jones]

For several years now I've been introducing House Geckos and Anoles into my greenhouses. Toads too.
Nice!

Kevin Jones

[spaugh]

Your greenhouses are closed well enough to keep quail and lizards in?  Can the birds fly pretty well?  You never have windows, doors, vents etc open that they can escape from?

[roblack]

Great story Carolyn! I share your protective nature with all critters, and like the idea of adding lizards for pest control. My wife still won't let me set Tokay geckos loose in the house.

Love the reptile pics everyone! All but green iguanas are welcome in our garden.

Caught this baby Cuban Knight Anole the other night on pomegranate tree. Brought in for the kids to play with before setting it free in a less spiny tree. These things get big and are snappy.

[roblack]

Here's a biggun

[pineislander]

We have beaucoup lizards here in Florida. Almost very time I drive the car I see one hanging on for dear life out on the car hood. Sometimes they drop off but agree the low mass protects them from falls.

[vall]

Your greenhouses are closed well enough to keep quail and lizards in?  Can the birds fly pretty well?  You never have windows, doors, vents etc open that they can escape from?

Quail don't really fly, they will flush straight up but only 3-4 feet high especially if their wings are clipped. I kept some in my greenhouse one winter but yeah I had to remember to shut the door (my vents are on the roof)

[Mike T]

I am still having issues with this issues with this reptile in my garden terrorising ducks and ruining papaya trees. Friends at Mission Beach have 6ft tall garden visitors who consume large amounts of fruit in a sitting. You don't want to mess with these overgrown turkeys or shoo them away from fruit trees. Here is a pic I took a few years ago.

[Daintree]

Whoa! That is one big lizard!
I had a Nile Monitor, which is very similar to a goanna. Fast and mean. Her name was Godzilla and she lived up to it. Got loose one day and had my cat pinned on top of the fridge when I got home. Her only claim to fame was that she didn't bite me TOO often...

Love the cassowaries, too, but yeah, I would NOT want one in my garden.  I am guessing they would rather fight than leave!

Carolyn

[Mike T]

Daintree the Daintree is one of the few places cassowaries and lace monitors live together. Mostly cassowaries don't mess with people but are capable of killing a person. Your instinct is to stay away from them especially really big females over say 150lbs.I think lace monitors are not as friendly as Nile monitors but that could just be wild ones. Their claws and teeth are pretty full on.

[roblack]

Found one of these in the neighborhood, caught it, it bit me all the way home. Set it free and it took up residence inside one of the columns on our back porch. One night, whilst minding my own business, heard a frightful sound that made me jump out of my seat. It was the tokay gecko, calling out loudly, "Tokay...Tokay!!!" After a few months, the nightly calls ceased. That's when I noticed the female Tokay had called up a boyfriend. Now, we have a community of at least 3 adults and 2 juveniles. One adult and one juvenile hunt together. Every night I find them by the mosquito trap, 40+ feet from their condo. It's like it is teaching the young one. Such cool lizards.

Adult


Baby

[brian]

Jaboticaba45, I got my quail eggs mail order from purelypoultry.com.  I'm pretty sure they still have them.  They are really easy to care for. 

Spaugh, the quail can't fly well enough to aim for a vent window to escape, they can only take off in a random direction and have little control.  They behave like tiny chickens.

However, I had added some anoles once and never saw them again.  They could easily have walked out the vents, I was simply hoping they wouldn't because it was cold outside and nice and warm in the greenhouse.  They are cheap enough I will probably try again. 

[Daintree]

Daintree the Daintree is one of the few places cassowaries and lace monitors live together...

We LOVED the Daintree (I collect World Heritage sites...), hence the name of my greenhouse "Daintree Arboretum".  I always go barefoot, and walking near our hut on a little jungle path I got 5 leeches.  We saw frogs, lizards and scrubfowl, but not a wild cassowary.

Brian, my Bahaman anoles all disappeared, but the big green ones stuck around.

[roblack]

And I take anoles for granted, lol!

We have at least 6 different kinds here it seems, whether we want them or not. Bright greens (beautiful and weird looking), browns, greys, striped ones, big dark ones, ridge backs, and then the giant Cuban knight anoles (can't be as closely related, big funky lizards).

Have to wonder how much of a dent they actually put in the bug density. They definitely aren't eating all the mosquitos.

[brian]

For flying bugs I have had good luck with a nepenthes pither plant.   I don't know if it attracks mosquitos, but I see a ton of some kind of small flying insects in the pitchers.