An unexpected reptilian visitor was caught on the island this spring after hitching a ride to Bermuda in a container.

The summer edition of the Envirotalk newsletter, released by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said that the department received a call on April 27 from a customs officer to report the sighting of an unusual lizard in the parking lot of a local shipping agent.

The notice said: “A DENR officer responded immediately and promptly captured it before the animal was able to disappear into the neighbourhood.

“It proved to be a northern curly-tailed lizard, Leiocephalus carinatus, likely a stowaway in a container imported from Florida.”

Northern curly-tailed lizards, named for their distinctive tails, are native to the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Cuba, but the species was deliberately introduced to Florida in the 1940s for pest control.

The newsletter added: “It feeds on vegetation, insects and the occasional frog or small lizard — something our endemic skinks would not appreciate if the species was to become established here.

“DENR thanks Bermuda Customs for reporting this and for their continued vigilance at these border locations.”