it's not exactly the python invasion of southern florida....................

it's the wall lizard invasion of cincinnati!

in 1951, a local wealthy family was vacationing in italy. their 9 year old son captured 10 of these lizards and smuggled them through customs in a sock. when he arrived home, he let them loose in the garden. since then, they've naturalized and are slowly spreading throughout the city.
i've lived on the same block for almost my entire life. when i was little, we never saw lizards. the first time i became aware of them was in the early 70's. i was walking near out university, about 5 miles from my house when i saw them sunning on a rock wall. no one believed me.
now, i see them every day when it's warm. when i walk in the neighborhood, i see them running on the sidewalks. they love the area in front of my house because i have high stone walls along the front steps and they come out and sun every day. i see them in the trees around the house and on sunny days i even see them on my window sills, catching the rays.
they've become totally adapted to the area to the point that the university now has a program to track sightings. they're being reported in the small towns just across the state border in indiana recently. i'm really hoping to see the day when they colonize our downtown and swarm over the buildings there.
and they may be coming for you, soon....................