The Brown Anole – sometimes known as the Cuban Anole – is an exotic invasive lizard that likely arrived in the Florida Keys as a stowaway from Cuba. Its movement northward and across the Gulf States has also likely been as a result of individuals deliberately taken as pets or hidden in vehicles or eggs hidden in soil of plants being moved. It has been here for more than a century and its populations across the Southeast are sometimes enormous.
The Brown Anole is harmless to us -- and beneficial because it eats many harmful insects. It is also an added food resource for many birds and other animals. It does compete with our similar-sized native Green Anole and may be causing that species to move higher in vegetation. Unlike our native Green Anole -- which can change its color from green to brown, the Brown Anole cannot change colors dramatically. However, bright orange Brown Anoles and ones with a distinctly brown cap do occasionally show up!