The war on Florida green Iguanas is ON

[ZEROPILOT]

Florida Fish and Wildlife has just announced that it is now legal to kill green Iguanas on both public and private lands.
Without specifics on exactly HOW to kill them. I'm sure many will be maimed and tortured and then die.
Talk about too little too late...
There are literally millions of them here.
They seem more common that any other lizard in some areas.
The issue is our warm winters.
It has to get below 50 and stay there for about 72 hours (from what I've seen) to kill them naturally. And that hasnt happened in several years.
These aren't released pets. These are distant relatives are this point.
Sad.
And probably too late to act at all.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Florida Fish and Wildlife has just announced that it is now legal to kill green Iguanas on both public and private lands.
Without specifics on exactly HOW to kill them. I'm sure many will be maimed and tortured and then die.
Talk about too little too late...
There are literally millions of them here.
They seem more common that any other lizard in some areas.
The issue is our warm winters.
It has to get below 50 and stay there for about 72 hours (from what I've seen) to kill them naturally. And that hasnt happened in several years.
These aren't released pets. These are distant relatives are this point.
Sad.
And probably too late to act at all.

Way too late. They would literally need an army of hunters in each city.

 

[wellington]

I seen this on the news today. So sad. I dont have to deal with them so dont really know the woes they may cause. However I think its disgusting they are letting people willy nilly kill them.
I wish we had them here, I'd love to have lizards in my yard.

 

[Sulcatafriend]

I have had about 7 iguanas in the last month on my property all of them were pretty aggressive towards me and my dogs
Its nice that they made it legal to kill them but I'm still going to push them out with my broom
Cant kill these cute monsters

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Florida Fish and Wildlife has just announced that it is now legal to kill green Iguanas on both public and private lands.
Without specifics on exactly HOW to kill them. I'm sure many will be maimed and tortured and then die.
Talk about too little too late...
There are literally millions of them here.
They seem more common that any other lizard in some areas.
The issue is our warm winters.
It has to get below 50 and stay there for about 72 hours (from what I've seen) to kill them naturally. And that hasnt happened in several years.
These aren't released pets. These are distant relatives are this point.
Sad.
And probably too late to act at all.

Interesting. I'm not aware of what the laws were previously, exactly... Wasn't it legal to kill iguanas on private lands already, since they're invasive? I'm wondering if being able to kill them on public lands somehow un-ties the hands of local governments to get rid of them. Or maybe allow nuisance animal control entities to kill on location (where appropriate), instead of having to live trap.

Perhaps that makes iguanas fair game for hunters. If that's the case, hopefully hunters would be more accurate and more humane than the average citizen. Perhaps the attitude will be (or become) more like dealing with feral swine. A number of places hire hunters to reduce the populations of feral swine.

 

[jsheffield]

I'm interested to see if this will develop into a new form of tourism... I've heard about iguana-centered hunting trips in Puerto Rico using pellet-guns that include cooking your kills after the hunt.

Jamie

 

[Reptilony]

So what's the downside of having too much lizards?

 

[jsheffield]

So what's the downside of having too much lizards?

I think they crowd out native species, mess with crops and plantings, and can hurt pets our kids and/or help spread disease.

Jamie

 

[Reptilony]

I think they crowd out native species, mess with crops and plantings, and can hurt pets our kids and/or help spread disease.

Jamie

Ok I see...They're kind of florida's rats...

 

[jsheffield]

Ok I see...They're kind of florida's rats...

That being said, I love paddling through mangroves and seeing trees hung with iguanas sunning themselves.

Jamie

 

[Pastel Tortie]

Ok I see...They're kind of florida's rats...

If you're familiar with The Princess Bride, they're more like Rodents Of Unusual Size.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Check this out.
It's a photo I took while fishing in Miami.
It's a "dispatched" green Iguana with an ALSO invasive Cain toad using him for a raft...And an endless supply of flies to eat!
These two species are unstoppable.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Finally
A useful cat!

 

[Tom]

Finally
A useful cat!

If only they'd stick to invasive lizards and leave the natives alone...

 

[ZEROPILOT]

If only they'd stick to invasive lizards and leave the natives alone...

True.
CURLY TAIL lizards took over officially about 5 years back and it's been at least that long ago that I saw a native Anole.
Those carnivorous Curly Tails are eating machines.
Green iguanas didn't seem to displace any native lizards.

 

[Tom]

True.
CURLY TAIL lizards took over officially about 5 years back and it's been at least that long ago that I saw a native Anole.
Those carnivorous Curly Tails are eating machines.
Green iguanas didn't seem to displace any native lizards.

I despise invasive species and the damage they do. If I ever move to FL, I will do my part to eradicate them. If everyone just got rid of one or two invasive lizards, if would make a huge difference.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I despise invasive species and the damage they do. If I ever move to FL, I will do my part to eradicate them. If everyone just got rid of one or two invasive lizards, if would make a huge difference.

I've got a friend that has a side business doing nothing but killing them on customers property with a high powered pellet rifle.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

When I was about 5-6 my mom got me a green iguana. Soon after it jumped off my shoulder and escaped into the bushes in North Lauderdale. So I might actually be patient 0 for the South Florida green iguana outbreak 😂

 

[Thomas tortoise]

Personally in my eyes I think that was a big mistake! (Making a rule you can kill iguanas.) I bet iguanas are going to be endangered in the wild soon. Everyone will want to get their guns out when they see one. I mean I understand they are pests but if they are minding their own business then I think it is very fascinating to watch them. And soon you all are gonna miss seeing a whole bunch on the beach.

 

[Cathie G]

I despise invasive species and the damage they do. If I ever move to FL, I will do my part to eradicate them. If everyone just got rid of one or two invasive lizards, if would make a huge difference.

The only critter I witnessed attacking an anole in Florida was a big black ant. I couldn't get into the bush far enough to help the poor little darling. That's another, worse invasive species in Florida. Ants.I did see a couple of 4 foot iguanas come crashing down just to sit for awhile in the sun 😎 just imagine an old lady with chicken legs freaking out from her first sight of those giant lizards just lounging in my backyard and you'll know what I thought 😁