South Florida residents woke up to “frozen” iguanas in their yards, streets, sidewalks and driveways on Sunday after record low temperatures shocked the invasive reptiles.
At 8:50 a.m., 10 minutes before the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Sunday morning opening day drop-off point, John Bridgman and his wife, Lindsey, were waiting with trash bags filled with two dozen iguanas.
The FWC opened five designated drop offices in the South and Southwest regions on Sunday and Monday, temporarily allowing people to remove live, cold-stunned green iguanas from the wild without a permit.
When temperatures drop and remain near freezing or lower, reptiles and amphibians, including exotic green iguanas, may enter a torpor state, temporarily lose muscle control and appear “frozen,” the FWC said.
“We had a couple of kids…one of them was big,” John Bridgeman said. “We circled the yard and the rest fell out onto the road or sidewalk in our community.”
Bridgman, a native New Yorker who has lived in Florida for 24 years, said he usually leaves his “frozen” iguanas in the sun to thaw. This year, he saw the FWC’s notice on where to return the car. “Because of the problems with them and the pool, our HOA usually hires people to catch them and get rid of them. I’m an outdoorsman and think this is a way to help the state.”
While the Bridgemans were one of the first iguanas to settle, hundreds more have followed. South Floridians brought cold-stunned iguanas in garbage bags, plastic buckets and trash cans.
Sunday’s cold snap provided an opportunity to capture and transport iguanas that have invaded South Florida communities, eating landscaping and pooping in swimming pools. The FWC’s executive order provides the public with a unique opportunity to remove iguanas from their property without a permit and bring them to the FWC “for humane slaughter or, in certain cases, transfer to a permit holder for live animal sale.”
Tyler Dawson from Canada brought five “frozen” iguanas in milk crates to the sunrise location. He collected them from along Orange Avenue in Davie, an area teeming with green iguanas that often dot the bike paths.
FWC’s Brayden Carr places a captured reptile into a cloth bag.
Across the tri-county area, South Florida residents posted photos and videos on social media on Sunday showing “frozen” iguanas in their driveways, streets and yards, some of which had fallen from trees. Some posts include curious dogs encountering them.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.
Drop-off locations include:
FWC South Florida Regional Laboratory, 2796 Overseas Highway 119, Marathon, FL 33050
FWC Office, 10052 NW 53rd Street, Sunrise, FL 33351
FWC Tequesta Field Laboratory, 19100 SE Federal Highway (US 1), Tequesta, FL 33469
FWC Enforcement Office, 2423 Edwards Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33901
FWC Southwest Regional Office, 3900 Drane Field Road, Lakeland, FL 33811
