Which Florida Lizard or Wildlife Neighbor Is This?

Cane Toad (bufo toad)

Rhinella marina

Keep an eye on it

• Toxic to pets

How to tell: Very large toad, often 4 to 6 inches or more, dry warty skin in gray, brown, olive or reddish-brown

Cuban Treefrog

Osteopilus septentrionalis

Keep an eye on it

• Toxic to pets

How to tell: Large warty treefrog, up to about 5 inches — the largest treefrog in the US

Green Treefrog

Hyla cinerea

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Slim, smooth-skinned frog 1.25 to 2.5 inches long, usually bright green with a bold white to cream stripe along each side

Southern Toad

Anaxyrus terrestris

Helpful — leave it

• Toxic to pets

How to tell: Smaller toad, usually under 3.5 inches, brick-red to gray, brown or black with warty skin

Squirrel Treefrog

Hyla squirella

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Small frog, about 1 to 1.5 inches long, usually green but can shift to brown, yellow, or blotchy patterns

Argentine Black and White Tegu

Salvator merianae

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease

How to tell: Large, stocky lizard, often 3 to 4+ feet long, black with white or yellow speckled banding, growing more black overall with age

Brown Anole

Anolis sagrei

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Brown lizard doing push-ups and bobbing its head on walkways

Photo: Everglades NPS from Homestead, Florida, United States via Wikimedia Commons , public domain, resized.

House Gecko

Hemidactylus spp.

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Pale, almost translucent lizard active on walls at night

Photo: Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark via Wikimedia Commons , CC BY 2.0, resized.

Green Anole

Anolis carolinensis

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Slender lizard, 5 to 8 inches long including tail, usually bright green but can shift to brown with mood, temperature or stress

Green Iguana

Iguana iguana

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease
• Can damage structures

How to tell: Large lizard, often 3 to 5+ feet long including tail, usually green but can turn olive, gray, or orange-ish, especially breeding males

Nile Monitor

Varanus niloticus

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease

How to tell: Very large lizard, often 4 to 6+ feet long, grayish-brown with rows of pale yellow-green spots across the back and bands on the tail

Spiny-tailed Iguana

Ctenosaura similis

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease
• Can damage structures

How to tell: Large lizard, often 3 to 4+ feet long including tail, gray to tan-brown with faint dark banding, not typically green

Gopher Tortoise

Gopherus polyphemus

Helpful — leave it

How to tell: Half-moon-shaped burrow entrance with a sandy apron in front

Nine-banded Armadillo

Dasypus novemcinctus

Worth a pro look

• Can spread disease

How to tell: Shallow, cone-shaped holes dug overnight, 1-3 inches deep

Brazilian Free-tailed Bat

Tadarida brasiliensis

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease

How to tell: Small (body about 3.5 inches, weighs less than an ounce), dark brown to gray fur, with a tail extending past the edge of the wing membrane

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis

Keep an eye on it

• Can bite
• Can damage structures

How to tell: Gray fur with brownish tints and a large, bushy tail, about 18 to 20 inches long including the tail

Raccoon

Procyon lotor

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can spread disease
• Can damage structures

How to tell: Grayish-brown body 2 to 3 feet long including tail, with a black mask across the eyes and alternating light/dark rings on the tail

Southern Flying Squirrel

Glaucomys volans

Worth a pro look

• Can bite
• Can damage structures

How to tell: Small (8 to 10 inches including tail), soft gray-brown fur with a cream-white belly

Virginia Opossum

Didelphis virginiana

Keep an eye on it

• Can bite

How to tell: Grayish body about 2.5 to 3 feet long including tail, with a white face and long, pointed pink nose