As Game of Thrones has famously quoted “Winter is Coming” and this week it definitely came. If you’re a true Floridian, winter starts once the weather goes below 50 degrees. Forecasters predicted temperatures falling into the 30s with the cold front over this past week. Yet, forecasters told us temperatures weren’t going to be the only thing falling this week. Along with the plummeting temperatures, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned South Floridians about falling iguanas. Yes, you heard that right. FALLING. IGUANAS.
On Jan. 21, the National Weather Service Miami, tweeted “This isn’t something we usually forecast, but don’t be surprised if you see Iguanas falling from the trees tonight as lows drop into the 30s and 40s. Brrrr!” This brought about hundreds of tweets of people sharing their own pictures of the hundreds of immobilized iguanas scattered around the city. Meteorologist Eric Blake posted his own image of an iguana laid across the ground to confirm this suspicion.
Iguanas are cold-blooded creatures so naturally, cold weather isn’t the best for these creatures. According to the New York Post, “…iguanas become slow or completely immobilized in order to conserve energy during cold weather — yet they return to life as temperatures rise again.” Their body temperatures are not able to keep up with their environment unlike, native, cold-blooded reptiles who have evolved to adapt to cope with sudden cold snaps. Iguanas vary in this way due to being an invasive species resulting in them lacking this trait not being fully evolved to adapt like other species.
Florida is home to countless of invasive species that wreak havoc on our ecosystem – iguanas are one of them. Green iguanas are native to Central America and other tropical areas of the region such as the Caribbean islands. They were first introduced in South Florida during the 1960s as stowaways on cargo ships, however, over the past years, more iguanas have been introduced due to the pet trade. They have been able to thrive in South Florida due to the tropical weather but more importantly, the extensive canal system present throughout the region. Thousands of iguanas have deemed canals to be their homes colonizing these areas for their benefit.
Courtesy: TCPalm
Iguanas damage the local environment disrupting residential and commercial landscape vegetation being considered a nuisance to the majority of property owners. The iguana population has risen to extreme highs causing many people to take the fate of iguanas to their own hands. Surprisingly, this means finding immobilized iguanas and selling their meat online. The Miami Herald dubbed iguana meat as “chicken of the trees” as thousands of ads started popping up overnight on Facebook Marketplace with people trying to sell their meat.
Can you eat iguanas?
The short answer is yes. In their native country, they are usually hunted due to the point of becoming endangered as they are seen as “an economical protein.” Iguanas seem to be more similar to chicken than you’d like to admit being cooked in similar fashion to chicken. Many blogs have advised starting with making iguana tacos as the safest and quickest route to make this dish.
Iguanas have become a major threat to Florida’s environment so much so that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission encourages people to kill iguanas. The fate of Iguanas is to be determined this winter season.
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