Posted on 06/22/2018 1:11:41 PM PDT by Red Badger
South Florida’s not quite Jurassic Park, but it’s getting close.
Packs of green iguanas are swarming seawalls, roaming yards and parks, and leaving a path of destruction and filth in their wake. Like a shot of espresso, the hot summer sun has stoked activity in the cold-blooded creatures, which experts say may be at record numbers.
“This year is the most iguanas I’ve seen and I’ve been in business for nine years,” says Thomas Portuallo, owner of Fort Lauderdale-based Iguana Control. He says the invasive lizards are out of control with “many hundreds of thousands” creeping around Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
The prehistoric populations are multiplying like rabbits, and causing internet, phone and power outages (barbecued lizard, anyone?), damaging landscapes, levees, seawalls, roofs and patios, and contaminating pools with poop.
“There’s no real way to come up with a valid estimate of the number of green iguanas in Florida. But the number would be gigantic,” says Richard Engeman, a biologist for the National Wildlife Research Center. “You could put any number of zeros behind a number, and I would believe it.”
And the critters have residents steamed up — literally.
About 8 percent of power outages, or 9,200 a year, are caused by animals and birds, says Richard Beltran, a Florida Power and Light spokesman. In South Florida, iguanas are the second leading cause of power outages, behind squirrels. But that’s well behind power failures caused by vegetation, Beltran points out. FPL uses raptor guards and bird diverters to cover 75,000 miles of power lines, switches and conductors at 600 substations, he says. If an animal touches two of the three power lines attached to a pole, that's when current zaps them, Beltran says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
I once went Joggin at Greynolds park in the morning, when the iguanas come out to sun themselvs... and it was like running through Jurassic park. Hundreds of them, all over the place.. it was amazing.
Are they good for anything? Food? Leather boots?
I guana go home.
Tastes lik chikken’!
They’re pretty good eating.
Should be open season no limit on Iguanas, Monitor Lizards and Pythons!
Rather have iguanas than Democrats...
Looks like a preview of some “last days” coming attractions.
And lion fish, oh my!
Maggots & buzzards gotta eat, too.
Residents should be killing them by the tens-of-thousands.
anything leather..............
Sic the pythons on ‘em.
Problem solved.
6 year old story but...
Rubio is an iguana?
This young lady cooks up some small ones but they are usually much bigger than this:
https://youtu.be/u_VH38vUjRM?t=35
Big ones:
“...many hundreds of thousands...”
Thanks, but I’m not looking at the video!
Yet ANOTHER reason I will always live NORTH OF the Mason-Dixon Line. ;)
Florida is full of four, two and zero legged creepy crawlies.
Then the species of snake-eating gorillas to take care of the pythons.
But then what about the gorillas?
Thats the beauty of it, when winter comes, they all freeze to death.
/simpsons
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