Nile Monitor & Green Iguana Management Plan
The City of Sanibel has established procedures for receiving monitor lizard and iguana complainants and handling nuisance monitor lizard and iguanas. Public safety is the primary factor in evaluating the potential danger posed by a monitor lizard or iguana.
What are the procedures in handling complaint of nuisance iguanas and monitor lizards?
Police Dispatchers receive the initial complaint and will ask the following questions:
Does the reptile pose an immediate threat to human safety?
Description of the reptile, including size, shape, and color?
Does the reptile have a crest or spines on the head or back?
(Iguanas will have these features while a monitor lizard will not.)
Does the complainant recall the activity level of the reptile?
(Monitors are hyperactive and fast moving while iguanas are generally sluggish and slow moving unless threatened or approached.)
Location where the reptile was seen, either a physical location and or an address.
Direction of travel if the reptile was moving?
Was the reptile observed in the water or on land?
Time the complainant observed the reptile?
(Is the sighting present time or did the sighting occur in the past?)
Has the complainant observed any burrows created by a reptile in the area?
Any other significant information concerning the reptile that would help lead trappers to the reptile in question.
If the complainant advises that the reptile is a monitor lizard, an officer will be assigned to investigate.
If the complainant advises that the reptile is an iguana and is still on scene, an officer will be assigned to investigate.
If the complainant advises that the reptile is an iguana that was past observed, the dispatcher will record all information and handle the call with the proper documentation to include completion of the Monitor/Iguana Lizard Form in the narrative section. An officer does not necessarily need to be dispatched to the scene on past-occurred sightings.
If the complainant is sure the reptile was in fact a monitor lizard, an officer will be assigned to investigate and upon investigation, search for signs of burrows.
The Police Department will contact a monitor lizard trapper for all confirmed sightings of Monitor Lizards to ensure rapid response.
During the investigation, the Officer will look for any burrows in the area and document the location, if found.
When a trapper has captured a reptile(s), the supervisor will document the location (GPS coordinates), type, date, and numbers of reptiles captured and ensure:
a) That a new report is generated for all reptiles captured as a result of the trapper’s self action.
b) The information is properly documented on the original corresponding complaint received by the Sanibel Police Department.
The Police Records Coordinator reviews all Monitor Lizard and Iguana Complaints and ensures that all information is properly documented within the Police records keeping system.
It is the Records Coordinator’s responsibility to email each report to the City of Sanibel Natural Resources Department and to the trapper contracted by the City.
What does the trapper look like and what are his responsibilities?
The contracted City trapper will wear a lime green shirt, which identifies him with writing, “Sanibel Lizard Control Program.”
The contracted City trapper’s vehicle will have a magnetic sign, which will also read, “Sanibel Lizard Control Program.”
The trapper will notify the Sanibel Police and advise the Sanibel Police Dispatcher of his/her location while working on Sanibel.
The trapper will be responsible for obtaining GPS location of each reptile captured.
The trapper will contact the Sanibel Police Department upon completion of each daily activity and report his actions directly to the shift supervisor. The information will include GPS location, type of reptile captured, numbers of reptiles captured, and indication of each associated Police Case Number.
The trapper will be responsible to complete a trapper’s activity report and submit the report to the Sanibel Records Division at the end of each daily activity.
Should citizens see an alligator, crocodile, iguana or monitor lizard, they should immediately report their sightings to the Sanibel Police Department at 239-472-3111.