A side of darkness with your water?

Today was strange. During the passing of the first tropical storm of this season, Florida's west coast was bombarded by heavy thunderstorms and at times gale-force winds. This author decided to go out and get some grub with her significant other at Carraba's, a place where we have never eaten before. Being the "type" of person this author is, rarely would a home cooked meal be passed up for take-out fair.

The rain had been pouring the entire drive to the restaurant, but we were unperturbed. This is Florida! We drove up, were seated quickly. The atmosphere was dimly lit and faux grapevines covered wooden arbors hung from the ceilings. The kitchen was open and in full view of the patrons it served, which are quite appreciative of this notion.

After orders were taken, however, the atmosphere became quite gloomy. The power went out. Several easily excitable patrons began babbling nonsensically. The wood-burning grill lost its electrical ventilation, and the restaurant quickly filled with a thick cloud of smoke. The front doors were opened, as were the rear emergency exits in order to ease patrons eyes and noses. Their generator failed to operate properly, and so, the long wait for the utility to fix the problem began. Many patrons began to file outside, looking for the source of the problem, as if their observations would be of any use to them or anyone else. Obvious to this author was the problem across the street-someone had planted an oak beneath power lines, then let it grow unhindered until it was growing around the lines. The high winds had perhaps snapped the limbs into the lines, shorting or damaging them in some way or another. And, in fact, this is exactly where the utility crew went and began its repairs. Forty five minutes later, the ordeal was over, and nearly all of the patrons who had been present had left for quicker fare, leaving the restaurant quite empty when the lights came back on. But, we stayed. It turned out to be quite worth it.

After the meal, we went to Gamespot and traded in a console game for a PC version, then trekked over to PetSmart. Although they have dubbed themselves "smart", this author never finds them educated in much of anything, namely in herps. For as we walked up to the wall display with 5 1/2 gallon tanks brimming with reptiles, yet again this author felt a stab. Inside one 5 1/2 gallon tank (hardly adequate for anything except neonates for temporary means of enclosure and veterinary-approved temporary housing, and according to enclosure requirements issued by the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, illegal if longer than 60 days) were five Anolis sagrei sagrei, a nonindigenous, highly invasive species of lizard, along with a lone Anolis carolinensis, our Florida native. The A sagre sagrei were collectively mislabeled as "Caribbean Anoles", when the common name should be Cuban Anole. Aside from the terribly high price for something so precious to Florida herp enthusiasts, the insanity of even selling something native to the very same region, and the barbarity of keeping Anolis carolinensis with the very creature helping to push it to threatened status, it was very near death. This author knew it was not only poor husbandry through the telltale bowl of water ( A. carolinensis prefers drinking water droplets from leaves), to the dry substrate and poorly inadequate lighting, it was the presence of the highly competitive Anolis sagrei sagrei. This author caved in and bought her, before it was too late. Although emaciated and obviously dehydrated, she still appeared to have enough strength to live through the ordeal of emergency husbandry intervention and the initial shock of habitat transfer, if one could call PetSmart's idea of an enclosure a habitat.

The 14 day guarantee given in lieu of purchase (they neglected to give or even mention caresheets, not that I personally required one) was quite unnecessary. As soon as she was nestled in a new habitat, food was immediately introduced. The nearly starved to death anoline lizard immediately preyed upon some of the highly innappropriate cricket fare provided her (wild Green Anoles prefer soft-bodied insects). This author knew that her tankmates were no mates, nor should have been put together with her. When will pet stores and hobbyists realize that unnaturally mixing any species in an enclosure smaller than an average bedroom is detrimental? Especially when A. sagrei sagrei are helping, along with A equestris and A garmani, to destroy populations of A carolinensis, our phylogenetical state heritage, in the wilds of Florida? Common sense dictates this as unwise in the least.

After a light misting and a good meal, the little Green Anole already looks a little healthier. That's all it took to make her feel better. Sad. And yet, the saddest thing of all is that she should never have been there to begin with. Probably not wild-caught but farm-raised, this little Green Anole is safe now from the horrors of the pet industry. A self-excommunicated managerial staffer from just such an industry, this author knows only too well what people put animals through in the name of the almighty dollar, and its consequences have become disturbing. This author's foolishness through purchasing the Green Anole is obvious- I just supported that very same inhumane industry. But the only other option was death. Now this Green Anole may have a chance at life in the wild after a few veterinary diagnostics. But she will not be released here, for her nemesis, the Cuban Brown Anoles, have taken over here, and without natural, non-pesticide sprayed wetlands, she wouldn't survive, for her normal prey are the first to succumb to pesticides. And Pinellas boasts very little viable wetland habitat.

Perhaps, in a way, having the pet industry breed and supply Green Anoles, though just in Florida (they are considered highly invasive species in states like Hawaii, for example), is a good way to replace what we continue to senselessly destroy. Eventually, many well-intentioned mothers will release their child's forgotten "plaything" into the wild, which of course is not in the public's or animal's best interest. Please, take your unwanted pets to a shelter or animal rescuer. Unless of course, you are a Florida resident and are releasing a Green Anole... ;)