A Victorious Catch

By WILL

We got out of the car, and instantly I was sweaty.

We were ready and looking forward to the Rookery Bay tour, both because it was cooler on the pontoon boat than on land and because, usually, anything to do with boats is fun.

We waited under the sign that read: "Boat Tours Meet Here."

I got impatient and started running around crazily trying to catch the anoles (aka geckos, lizards). Then I yelled.

"Mom! Mom! I got one! Get over here!" Finally, I'd caught a brown anole, an invasive species rivaling the native ones, the green anoles.

Either was fine with me, and finally my persistence paid off.

I was six when I started to try to catch them. I'd go down to the pool and neglect to go into the pool because the anoles like to run around there. Even in April, when it's really hot, I would stick to it.

I expected to catch a bigger one, but ironically it was one of the smaller ones that ended up in my gentle but iron grasp. Size matters not, I guess.

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Ed note: The anole was released into the wild moments after photo was taken.