The Spheres being constructed on Amazon’s downtown Seattle campus generate a lot of curiosity from those on the outside looking in. It was only a matter of time before an uninvited guest got past the tech giant’s security.
As the planting of the glass-enclosed domes begins to ramp up, The Spheres will eventually be home to hundreds of different exotic plant species from around the world. Amazon revealed on building’s official Instagram page this week that a stowaway had managed to hitch a ride on a tree from Florida.
A brown anole, a lizard native to Cuba and the Bahamas, was found while Amazon’s horticulture team was installing two large trees — a Ptychosperma schefferi and a Ficus binnendiijkii “Alli.” The Instagram gallery post of four images noted that there will not be any wildlife in The Spheres when they open early next year.
Ben Eiben, manager for the project’s Living Wall, adopted the reptile, and Amazon reported that it’s doing very well.
The Wikipedia page for the lizard says they have been widely introduced in warmer U.S. states such as Florida, where they have been sold as pets. They’re considered highly invasive, and the males can grow to 8 inches in length.
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