Q&A of the Day – South Florida’s Iguana Problems & FWC’s Guidance for Combating It

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com

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Today’s Entry: Hey Brian, I heard a report on your station that said iguanas are protected by a law. Didn’t FWC encourage killing them? I must be missing something. Btw, Fox News ran a segment on Iguana hunting last (Tuesday) night. I thought that was pretty funny.

Bottom Line: Ha! Yes, as it turns out I happened to receive a text from Florida’s CFO Jimmy Patronis, whom I’ve long joked about being a future iguana hunter (for no other reason than that he heard me talking about the proliferation of iguanas several years ago and got a kick out of it when I talked about the advent of the iguana hunting industry...but because he’s actually interest in becoming an iguana hunter) Tuesday night. He told me to turn on Fox News because Laura Ingraham was doing a segment on iguanas. In the words of Laura...We’re going to talk about an invasion of the reptilian variety. Everybody’s moving to Florida, including iguanas. She then highlighted the news that brought iguanas back into the news cycle, even nationally, this week. Miami-Dade has announced a plan to hire iguana hunters, at a cost of $700,000 annually, in an effort to combat the “reptilian invasion”. And should Dade go through with the proposed iguana control measures, as they appear ready to do, they actually wouldn’t be the first government in Florida to do so. Key Biscayne has regularly employed iguana trappers in recent years...and at the rate they’ve been proliferating, Miami-Dade probably won’t be the last.

Because iguanas are an invasive species in Florida with no natural predators, the only natural means of controlling them is a hard freeze...which is why you seldom see them north of Martin County. But for South Florida, where there’s not been a hard freeze since 2010, the occasional cold stunned tree falling events in recent years haven’t done anything to curb their numbers. Nor seemingly has Florida Fish and Wildlife’s attempted effort to encourage the killing of them which they first encouraged nearly four and a half years ago now. FWC has updated their iguana guidance multiple times since then (including walking back their initial guidance for killing iguanas which some people thought was inhumane). FWC’s current guidance reads like this:

Green iguanas are not native to Florida and are considered an invasive species due to their impacts to native wildlife. Like all nonnative reptile species, green iguanas are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law and can be humanely killed on private property with landowner permission. This species can be captured and humanely killed year-round and without a permit or hunting license on 32 public lands in south Florida.

Iguanas have also been added to Florida’s Prohibited species list which limits the legal possession and distribution of them within the state. The law that they’re protected by, that you had a question about and that you would have heard in the story, is the anti-cruelty law cited by FWC that I’ll come back around to in a minute. The reason the state has taken such a strong stance, and the reason why local governments are now getting involved is explained this way by FWC:

Green iguanas cause damage to residential and commercial landscape vegetation and are often considered a nuisance by property owners. Iguanas are attracted to trees with foliage or flowers, most fruits (except citrus) and almost any vegetable. Some green iguanas cause damage to infrastructure by digging burrows that erode and collapse sidewalks, foundations, seawalls, berms and canal banks. Green iguanas may also leave droppings on docks, moored boats, seawalls, porches, decks, pool platforms and inside swimming pools. Although primarily herbivores, researchers found the remains of tree snails in the stomachs of green iguanas in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, suggesting that iguanas could present a threat to native and endangered species of tree snails. In Bahia Honda State Park, green iguanas have consumed nickerbean, which is a host plant of the endangered Miami Blue butterfly. As is the case with other reptiles, green iguanas can also transmit the infectious bacterium Salmonella to humans through contact with water or surfaces contaminated by their feces.

So, about Florida’s anticruelty law. It applies to any animal, invasive or native. The law states: A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty. Now, when it comes to iguanas, that’s previously been the rub. What is considered a “humane” way to whack an iguana? FWC has a guide... They have a two-step method for the humane killing of nonnative reptiles:

Step 1:

Your method should result in the animal losing consciousness immediately.

Step 2:

You should then destroy the animal's brain by “pithing” which prevents the animal from regaining consciousness.

The way they recommend that you achieve this is by the use of a captive bolt, firearms, or pre-charged pneumatic air guns (which is the generally preferred method).

Like many in South Florida I’ve had a front row seat to their progressive takeover. Five years ago, there were iguanas near us at home. Four years ago, iguanas began to populate around our home. Today iguanas outnumber pretty much all creatures at home. Ashley and I got an air gun a few years back at the recommendation of a listener. We were unsuccessful in several attempts to takeout iguanas in our yard before it jammed, and we gave up on it. Around that time, I caught an iguana by its tail doing yard work. To my surprise it came off in my hand and the next day we found that it was dead in the rocks in our seawall. Who knew that their tails could come off or that they apparently can’t live without them? Anyway, that was the last of our iguana hunting attempts. But for those who know what they’re doing, government sanctioned or otherwise, there’s increasingly a need. After all it was just last December that Lake Worth Beach had a “large scale” power outage triggered by an iguana...who knows what’s next? But one thing I didn’t understand is why Laura Ingraham is afraid of them. There’s no doubt that if you approach them, they’re far more afraid of you than you would be of them. That’s why governments are resorting to hiring pros to try to curb their populations.

The Sean Hannity Show