It’s raining reptiles!
Iguanas left virtually paralyzed by Florida’s recent unseasonable cold snap are dropping like flies from trees, leaving people to scoop them up by the armload.
When temperatures plummet, the cold-blooded creatures become immobile, and in Florida, where upwards of 1 million iguanas are estimated to typically laze in the treetops, that means torrents of reptiles falling.
“They’re like little bags of ice,” said Jessica Kilgore of the “nuisance animal removal service” Iguana Solutions as she hefted a 10-pound iguana in her arms.
Usually, Floridians are prohibited from handling the iguanas themselves, but this winter, the situation is so severe that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to launch temporary collection sites across the panhandle.
Kilgore said she has hiked down the beaches in Hollywood, Fla., collecting “hundreds of pounds worth” of fallen iguanas.
She told Local 10 that the iced iguanas are so plentiful that people can “pick them up like easter eggs on the ground.”
She explained that the FWC will either transfer the iguanas they receive to an licensed out-of-state seller or euthanize them but noted that Floridians aren’t forced to surrender the reptiles.
“If you want to allow him to defrost, go ahead and move him to the sun, and he’ll go ahead and scramble right up the trees,” she said.
“But if you want to help the environment and remove him, you need to call FWC and find a drop-off site and they’ll be able to take care of him humanely for you.”
Kilgore highlighted iguanas’ importance to “a lot of different cultures” that make delicacies out of every part of the reptiles, including its eggs.
“So this is easy snacks falling out of trees this morning,” she told the outlet.
The Sunshine State is home to swaths of invasive reptile species that were largely introduced to the panhandle through illicit pet trading, ranging from Burmese pythons to the Argentine giant tegu.
Florida’s government sponsors events aimed at tapering the python population bit by bit, including the annual Florida Python Challenge.
