8-foot-long carnivorous cat-eating lizards are invading Florida

The exotic pet trade has a way of introducing destructive and potentially dangerous creatures to places where they don't belong, and Florida's sunny, warm climate makes for a perfect home for many of these invasive species.

People buy a small snake, lizard, or colorful fish, and when it gets to big to handle, they dump it into an area where they figure it'll fit in. But if they fit in too well, these unleashed creatures not only thrive in their new homes, but if they are without natural predators they can wreak havoc on the surrounding ecosystem, unbalancing it and potentially wiping out the local animals.

Lately we've heard a lot about the Burmese pythons and the more aggressive African rock pythons that wildlife officials fear will wipe out the foxes, rabbits, deer, raccoons, opossums, and bobcats of the Everglades.

But another creature that Florida wildlife officers are trying to get a handle on now is the Nile monitor lizard, a cousin of the most famous of monitor lizards, the Komodo dragon, that has been spreading around the state since at least 1990.

Thousands are thought to be on the loose in parts of the state, but they've recently begun to appear in Palm Beach County, and officials are hoping they can eliminate them in the area before they establish a firm toehold in the area.

Wildlife officials armed with shotguns will be increasing patrols of Palm Beach County canals from once a month to four to six times a month to try to hunt the reptiles down, according to the Sun Sentinel. The plan is to catch or shoot them on sight - they've got 20 in Palm Beach since July of 2014.

The lizards are native to almost all of Sub-Saharan Africa, and grow up to five feet long on average, with large specimens reaching seven or eight feet. They typically have yellow markings on their back, and can range in color from yellow to olive green or dark brown.

And while they don't usually menace humans unless provoked (though one pet education website says they "can inflict serious wounds to an inexperienced handler"), they are most definitely threats to local burrowing owls, tortoises, and other creatures. They've "even been known to eat cats," according to the Sun Sentinel.

Monitors have spread far enough that they're a serious invasive species problem according to David A. Steen, a conservation biologist who included them a list of the "worst invasive reptiles" he chronicled for Slate. He describes the Nile monitor as a "hulking beast" that's "a voracious predator of any creature smaller than itself."

In addition to these massive lizards and the seemingly-unstoppable pythons, poisonous lionfish are taking over Florida reefs.

Let's not let any more wild creatures that don't belong loose in Florida, okay?