As "frozen" iguanas rain down in Florida, wildlife officials say: Don't just film them — turn them in
Plenty of photos and videos of cold-stunned iguanas falling from trees and lying motionless on the ground after dangerously cold temperatures moved into South Florida are circulating on social media, but officials don't want residents to just snap a photo – they want them to turn the reptiles in at a disposal site.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) had five drop off locations open on Monday.
"It's like a Florida Easter egg hunt"
Local trapper Ryan Izquierdo said he caught 68 "frozen" iguanas on Sunday.
Izquierdo has made this an annual tradition, and he documents it on social media.
On Monday, he wanted to add to that total. And it didn't take CBS News Miami crews long before finding a small iguana on the sidewalk in Tamarac.
Some iguanas were limp. Others seemed frozen solid.
Iguanas fall into a coma-like state known as torpor
Despite how they look, cold-stunned iguanas are not technically frozen. Wildlife experts say the reptiles are cold-blooded, so when temperatures drop into the 40s or below, their bodies shut down to conserve energy. This temporary, coma-like state, known as torpor, causes them to become immobile and unresponsive, sometimes falling from trees.
As temperatures warm, many can regain movement, which is why officials warn people not to assume the animals are dead.
Izquierdo said residents should be careful if you're grabbing one. The FWC said the saliva in their mouth can contain salmonella.
"They have nasty bacteria in their mouth, so you gotta be really careful handling them," Izquierdo said.
And CBS News Miami found about a dozen cold-stunned iguanas near an apartment complex. Most of them likely fell from trees.
"I've caught some close to six feet long," Izquierdo said.
And after about 10 minutes, his hands were full and the load of iguanas got heavier and heavier. CBS News Miami even tried to locate some in burrows by a canal.
"I guarantee there are some iguanas deep in these burrows right now," Izquierdo said.
Iguanas brought to South Florida drop off locations
CBS News Miami crews counted about 90 of them caught after only two days. Izquierdo kept them in the bed of his truck so they didn't "thaw out," and then CBS News Miami went to an FWC drop off site in Sunrise so the state could dispose of them.
Because iguanas are an invasive species in Florida, by law, they cannot be relocated or released back into the wild. The FWC said it follows state-approved humane methods of euthanasia for invasive species like iguanas.
Izquierdo said that after dropping off several dozen iguanas, he still kept a few for himself.
"With the rate that they're multiplying, it doesn't feel too bad because for everyone you see there's 10 you don't," Izquierdo explained.
Staff at five FWC locations was receiving wild, cold-stunned iguanas collected by the public on Monday, Feb. 2 until 4 p.m.
Another round of cold weather Monday into Tuesday could mean even more cold-stunned iguanas across South Florida.
A NEXT Weather Alert goes into effect late Monday night and lasts through late Tuesday morning as temperatures are once again expected to drop into the low 40s and upper 30s inland, with wind chills making it feel closer to freezing for much of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
"Frozen" iguanas drop-off locations
- FWC South Florida Regional Lab, 2796 Overseas Highway 119, Marathon, FL 33050
- FWC Office, 10052 NW 53rd Street , Sunrise, FL 33351
- FWC Tequesta Field Lab, 19100 SE Federal Highway (US 1), Tequesta, FL 33469
- FWC Law Enforcement Office, 2423 Edwards Drive, Fort Myers, FL 33901
- FWC Southwest Regional Office, 3900 Drane Field Road, Lakeland, FL 33811