They are….the Argentine black and white tegus! (That’s plural of “tegu,” which is singular.)
They are lizards. They eat everything. They love eggs:
Add it to the list of terrors of the natural world — including murder hornets and feral hogs — that have been disrupting life these days: The Argentine black and white tegu, an invasive lizard species from South America, has taken root in Georgia, where it poses a threat to native wildlife, according to state officials.
“We are trying to remove them from the wild because they can have negative impacts on our native species,” John Jensen, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said in a recent video while holding one of the lizards. “They eat just about anything they want.”
Eggs are one of the tegu’s favorite foods, and it’s not picky about which kind, whether alligator, quail, turkey or gopher tortoise (Georgia’s official reptile).
Tegus, which can grow up to four feet long and weigh 10 pounds or more, also eat fruits, vegetables, plants, pet food and insects. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said that Florida, which has been dealing with tegus for more than a decade, “is not aware of any predatory attacks on pets in that state.”
Love the delicacy of that “not aware of any predatory attacks on pets in that state.”
Oh yeah? Just wait.