Minibim, technically you are right. No exotics should be allowed to live in the wild areas of Florida, especially if they are disturbing native species, and some of the ones you have listed certainly ARE. Unfortunately, the boat has already sailed on many of them, though there are dedicated folks who are still trying. However, if you will read back over my personal posts on the Cuban treefrog, I have not ever suggested there was any way to get rid of them in south Florida, where they have taken over. (To kill or not to kill down there is a pretty much a personal choice.) I HAVE suggested killing them in central to northern Florida, where there is still at least a CHANCE of saving our native treefrogs. And I will continue to do so as long as there is any hope. I would also trap or relocate any pet iguanas, monitor lizards, parrots and the like that show up in this area, where it is at all possible to do so. Atrox, that is why I said "MAYBE" in my post. Frankly, I would have a hard time killing an alligator anywhere, unless it had something or someone I loved in its mouth. I'm for letting them alone, or calling authorities if they turn up in the wrong place. Barrier Island, where do you see me referring to you as an "ignorant wildlife slaughtering fool?" (Talk about dramatic phrasing.) As I said in my second post, I read your earlier post as referring to people in Florida in general as you didn't specify you were talking about anything else. As I also said in my second post, I apologize if that was not what you meant. Nothing left to be said on that subject, as far as I'm concerned. Evelyn, when I get a pond going, I'll check back with you, for sure! I'd love to have native leopard frogs in my yard. Marcia

OMG you guys! Last night, which was very bright outside, my DH & I caught 8 of the critters on our front porch. Probably more lurking, but this is the most we've caught & dispatched to the CTF place in the sky at one time. I had no idea we had so many around here. They've been very quiet lately, probably for good reason. LOL I could almost hear the lizards & little green frogs saying "Thank you thank you". Shirley

Warning...keep a close eye on them as they grow. Cuban treefrogs can look very much like squirrel treefrogs when they are small. But you should be able to tell the difference for sure as they get a bit larger. Because I wasn't outside for nine weeks, Cubans have spawned in my water gardens, and I have baby ones hopping all over my plants. I'll never catch them all right now. Which means my green anoles will soon be in peril. Hopefully, as they get a bit larger and easier to catch, I can dispatch most of them. (the CTF's not the anoles, of course) Marcia

I've read these forums off and on for several years now. It's amazing how many searches for gardening info bring up Garden Web forums! I bought my first house last fall and decided this week it was time to register and join in here. So many wonderfully talented and knowledgeable gardeners here! And, then, I find a forum specifically for Okies! One of the things I liked best about the house when I first looked at it was the backyard. There are just all kinds of plants. I have to wait to see what many of them are, although my neighbor next door has clued me in on some. The neighbors have a landscape pond in their backyard. One of the things I expected to miss about my last apartment (lived there for over 10 years) was the landscaping, complete with ponds, a stream and lots of wildlife including frogs and toads. I was thrilled to find out that the neighbors pond has frogs in it as I love listening to them. They were worried that the new owner (me) might object to having to hear frogs croak. I think we both got lucky! The backyard slopes severely and has some sort of evergreen planted all around it. Over the years many of lower branches have been trimmed off due to disease, according to the neighbor. Now they are very tall with foliage only at the top. Quite a few of them suffered a good deal during last winter's ice storm. There's still at least one sizeable branch that is broken and needs to be cut off. A couple in the back aren't broken but are badly bent over. I'm sort of hoping that the bent ones somehow magically recover as the birds and squirrels seem quite fond of them. I have already counted at least 15 different species of birds in my new backyard, and that doesn't include mockingbirds which I have seen in the front yard. I also saw a tiny mouse near the back fence a couple of weeks ago when I watering a spot that has some irises and a crepe myrtle. Last Monday evening I saw a baby rabbit in the neighbor's yard by my garage. Some of the plants (many of these I can't verify yet, just going by what the neighbor tells me) include crepe myrtle (3 in the back), a Rose of Sharon, irises, hardy hibiscus (looks like 4 of those), daylilies and some other lily the neighbor wasn't sure of the type, clematis out front, what appears to be a lilac someone tried to chop down that is coming back but is probably too close to the house for good air flow, and some boxwoods up next to the front of the house. The boxwoods look nice but stink so I am going to try to relocate them farther from the house in the front yard and create a flower bed with them as a back drop. To replace the stinky bushes up close to the house I have already acquired two blue hollies, four mini roses, a peony, azalea, hydrangea, blue lilac, and a romantica rose. I'm probably going overboard, but my gardening for the past 20 years has been limited to pots and whisky barrels on an apartment patio, and I'm just so excited to have a house with lots of room for gardens now! My biggest problem is that a large part of the backyard is heavily shaded due to the evergreens, and, especially around the perimeter, there isn't even much in the way of grass. Lots of weeds in the areas where there is grass. I'm looking forward to finding out all the creative gardening things I can do with my new house! I've probably rambled on long enough now. Going to leave work early today to have lunch at the Arts Festival then home to plant and transplant! Debra