Florida's Alien Invasion Trivia Quiz

Answer: tegus eat eggs

Tegus are large (4 feet/1.3 meters and up to 45 pounds/20 kilograms) and fairly aggressive lizards. They are omnivorous, but have a fondness for eggs so profound that trappers bait their devices with chicken eggs. A single adult tegu can destroy several bird or turtle nests or an alligator nest in one feeding.

The Tegu reached Florida in the 1980s, but became a serious problem in the 1990s after hurricane Andrew (1992) destroyed several exotic pet breeding facilities, releasing dozens of mature tegus into the Everglades.

Answer: walking catfish

The walking catfish is an air breathing catfish from Southeast Asia. Generally introduced through the exotic aquarium trade, they seem to be able to establish themselves anywhere. In 2017 a walking catfish was taken from the Tonge River near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.

These aggressive catfish are a threat to native aquatic fauna and have been known to destroy commercial aquaculture stocks.

Answer: spectacled caiman

The spectacled caiman's eyesight is as good as any crocodilian. Its name derives from a bony ridge near the eyes that gives the impression of eyeglasses. Spectacled caimans rarely exceed six feet/190 centimeters, and are not usually a threat to adult humans. It is, however, one more good reason to keep a close eye on the kids and pets near ponds and canals in South Florida.

Answer: Burmese python

Another example of exotic pet farms meeting hurricane Andrew (1992), dozens, perhaps hundreds of Burmese pythons escaped into the Everglades from the wreckage of their breeding farms. The snakes are so hard to see in the wild that population estimates vary by an order of magnitude, between 30 thousand and 300 thousand individuals. Specimens in excess of 17 feet/5.2 meters long have been delivered to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Large Burmese pythons have been taken that had recently consumed six foot/two meter alligators. Large alligators have been known to level the score by eating moderate sized pythons. Thankfully, neither reticulated pythons nor anacondas have established breeding populations as of 2019, but both have been reported on the loose in the Sunshine State.

Answer: severe macaw

The chestnut fronted macaw draws its name from a small patch of chestnut brown above its beak. Its severe macaw name seems to relate to the species' aggressive territoriality. Like many of the invasive species in Florida, it arrived via the exotic pet trade. Hurricane Andrew's 1992 destruction of many exotic pet breeding facilities, added to individual escapes and outright releases by owners unprepared for a pet with a difficult personality completed the population, which was breeding in the wild by the early 21st Century.

Answer: the macaques are a menace to public health

The vast majority of the rhesus macaques in Florida are carriers of the herpes B virus, which is capable of zoonosis (infecting humans). In humans, herpes B can cause a life-threatening neural infection with effects similar to meningitis. Transmission to humans is quite rare, usually by bite or scratch. Few bites/scratches seem to lead to the neural infection, but with a mortality rate of 40 percent, the problem is quite real.

It is the danger to humans from the disease carried by the monkeys that makes the state determined to eradicate them.

Answer: elk

Wapiti is the Native American (Shawnee) term for the elk. While elk once roamed much of North America, they have not been native to Florida in thousands of years. Each of the other potential answers is an invasive species of deer now established in Florida. But only the elk is called wapiti. The axis deer, also known as the chital is native to the Indian subcontinent, as is the sambar.

Answer: the cane toad

Rhinella marina, known variously as the cane toad, marine toad or giant neotropical toad, is the world's largest toad. Highly adaptable, this toad thrives wherever it is introduced, usually as an insect control measure. The cane toad is voracious and rarely keeps to the diet hoped for by man.

The skin of the cane toad is toxic enough to be a threat to pets (especially dogs) and the highly toxic tadpoles wreak havoc on native aquatic predators.

Answer: lion fish

Originally from the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean, the lion fish was detected on a few Florida reefs in the late 1980s. This aggressive and fiercely territorial fish chases other species away from preferred habitat, often interfering with breeding cycles. Predators are deterred or killed by the eighteen venomous spines of the lion fish. Venom from the spines has put humans in hospital.

The fish are assertive enough to make mock charges at humans diving on the reefs. The lion fish is an effective breeder, and had expanded its new Atlantic range from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the Gulf of Mexico off the state of Texas by 2015. Florida's 2018 lion fish roundup removed about fifteen thousand of these invaders from Florida waters, striking a blow to protect biodiversity.

Answer: green iguana

Biologist Richard Engeman of the National Wildlife Research Center quoted by the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: "There is no real way to come up with a valid estimate for the number of green iguanas in Florida. But the number would be gigantic." The big (5 feet/1.5 meter long) lizards have destroyed seawalls and patios with their burrowing.

They may be vegetarians, but bite readily and the muscular tail can also cause injury. To make things worse, they defecate everywhere and they carry salmonella bacteria.

It all started with a few escaped lizards in the 1960s and now there are entire businesses dedicated to iguana removal--and business is booming.