Carline Jean / Sun SentinelAn Iguana sunbathing on a tree in plantation, as temperatures in the 40s greeted South Floridians Thursday morning.
Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(right) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
Wilfredo Lee / APThis Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo shows a selection of products made with iguana skins at the Exotic Leather Fashions store in Hollywood, Fla. Store owner Brian Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
Jose A. Iglesias / Miami HeraldConservation Biologist Joseph A. Wasilewski, holds a male (top) and a female (bottom) Green Iguanas that he recently trapped. In the years he's been studying and chasing reptiles around the world, local herptologist Joe Wasilewski has earned himself the distinction of having slayed more invasive iguanas than probably anybody else on the planet: 12,000 and counting. The iguanocide was the result of a program Wasilewski created for Cat Cay in the Bahamas, where invasive green iguanas are wiping out native rock iguanas. Now it looks like Florida can use his expertise. Iguanas have been proliferating for years in South Florida after first appearing in Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. The state largely ignored them, or left the problem to residents to solve, because they mostly inhabited urban areas. But now it looks like more are moving into the Keys and damaging native wildlife.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, an iguana lounges on a railing on a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Perched in trees and scampering down sidewalks, green iguanas are so common across the suburbs here that many see them as reptilian squirrels instead of exotic invaders. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Maxine Bentzel / WPEC/CBS12An iguana that has succumbed to the cold temperature lays on its back in West Palm BeachWhen temperatures dipped in South Florida Wednesday night the iguanas couldn't hang. "They'll fall out of trees. They'll end up in areas where your cars are, parking lots, areas where they're cold stunned," said Emily Maple. Emily Maple is the reptile keeper at the Palm Beach County Zoo. She said the cold blooded invasive species freeze when it gets below 45 degrees.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood holds an iguana he caught behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers.
Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelGreen iguanas were first reported in Florida in the 1960s and now infest in South Florida. Green iguana populations now stretch along the Atlantic Coast in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties and along the Gulf Coast in Collier and Lee Counties.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood, right, talks with Janet Sarno, board chairwoman at King’s Point Imperial Condo, in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., about her iguana problem. Sarno hired Wood because the number of iguanas, big adults and bright green babies, hanging around the building’s pool has been growing despite residents’ attempts to chase them away or block their entry. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach. Now that summer's here, invasive green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella and botulism.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood uses a fishing pole with a wire attached to snare an iguana behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Perched in trees and scampering down sidewalks, green iguanas are so common across the suburbs here that many see them as reptilian squirrels instead of exotic invaders. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelNathan Schwartz UF Research Technician pick up different types of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(left) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood shows the texture of iguana skins at his shop in Hollywood, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
JOE CAVARETTA / Sun SentinelA pair of iguanas lounge on a newly-installed fabric Sox anti-erosion barriers along a canal in Lauderdale Lakes, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. The Iguanas helped contribute to erosion of the barriers that have been replaced.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach. Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana comes out of a mangrove area in Hollywood.
Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelNathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida collects data from traps to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They've also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelJenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida collects data from traps pick up testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(left) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood hides behind a tree as he uses a fishing pole with a wire attached to snare an iguana behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana in the trap captured by Brian Wood, who specializes in iguana trapping, through his business Iguana Catchers. He says he relocates them to his farm. A female could have 40 to 60 eggs every year, producing babies that he can sell to $5 to $10 each.
Jose A. Iglesias / Miami HeraldA large mature male Green Iguana roams free in Virginia Key. In the years he's been studying and chasing reptiles around the world, local herptologist Joe Wasilewski has earned himself the distinction of having slayed more invasive iguanas than probably anybody else on the planet: 12,000 and counting. The iguanocide was the result of a program Wasilewski created for Cat Cay in the Bahamas, where invasive green iguanas are wiping out native rock iguanas. Now it looks like Florida can use his expertise. Iguanas have been proliferating for years in South Florida after first appearing in Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. The state largely ignored them, or left the problem to residents to solve, because they mostly inhabited urban areas. But now it looks like more are moving into the Keys and damaging native wildlife.
Carline Jean / Sun SentinelGreg Snyder pets a large Iguana on a tree along River Walk in Fort Lauderdale. Snyder who has been homeless for the past two years says he spends parts of his days feeding and making friends with the iguanas.
Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana suns itself on a seawall in Hollywood.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
Sun Sentinel / ArchivesThe Native Village Wildlife Exhibit closed Sunday afternoon after years of being a tourist attraction. Here is one of many iguanas on the property.- Carline Jean / Sun SentinelAn Iguana sunbathing on a tree in plantation, as temperatures in the 40s greeted South Floridians Thursday morning.
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(right) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
- Wilfredo Lee / APThis Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo shows a selection of products made with iguana skins at the Exotic Leather Fashions store in Hollywood, Fla. Store owner Brian Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
- Jose A. Iglesias / Miami HeraldConservation Biologist Joseph A. Wasilewski, holds a male (top) and a female (bottom) Green Iguanas that he recently trapped. In the years he's been studying and chasing reptiles around the world, local herptologist Joe Wasilewski has earned himself the distinction of having slayed more invasive iguanas than probably anybody else on the planet: 12,000 and counting. The iguanocide was the result of a program Wasilewski created for Cat Cay in the Bahamas, where invasive green iguanas are wiping out native rock iguanas. Now it looks like Florida can use his expertise. Iguanas have been proliferating for years in South Florida after first appearing in Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. The state largely ignored them, or left the problem to residents to solve, because they mostly inhabited urban areas. But now it looks like more are moving into the Keys and damaging native wildlife.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, an iguana lounges on a railing on a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Perched in trees and scampering down sidewalks, green iguanas are so common across the suburbs here that many see them as reptilian squirrels instead of exotic invaders. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- Maxine Bentzel / WPEC/CBS12An iguana that has succumbed to the cold temperature lays on its back in West Palm BeachWhen temperatures dipped in South Florida Wednesday night the iguanas couldn't hang. "They'll fall out of trees. They'll end up in areas where your cars are, parking lots, areas where they're cold stunned," said Emily Maple. Emily Maple is the reptile keeper at the Palm Beach County Zoo. She said the cold blooded invasive species freeze when it gets below 45 degrees.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood holds an iguana he caught behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers.
- Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelGreen iguanas were first reported in Florida in the 1960s and now infest in South Florida. Green iguana populations now stretch along the Atlantic Coast in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties and along the Gulf Coast in Collier and Lee Counties.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood, right, talks with Janet Sarno, board chairwoman at King’s Point Imperial Condo, in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., about her iguana problem. Sarno hired Wood because the number of iguanas, big adults and bright green babies, hanging around the building’s pool has been growing despite residents’ attempts to chase them away or block their entry. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach. Now that summer's here, invasive green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella and botulism.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood uses a fishing pole with a wire attached to snare an iguana behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Perched in trees and scampering down sidewalks, green iguanas are so common across the suburbs here that many see them as reptilian squirrels instead of exotic invaders. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelNathan Schwartz UF Research Technician pick up different types of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(left) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood shows the texture of iguana skins at his shop in Hollywood, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- JOE CAVARETTA / Sun SentinelA pair of iguanas lounge on a newly-installed fabric Sox anti-erosion barriers along a canal in Lauderdale Lakes, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. The Iguanas helped contribute to erosion of the barriers that have been replaced.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach. Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
- Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana comes out of a mangrove area in Hollywood.
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelNathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida collects data from traps to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They've also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun SentinelJenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida collects data from traps pick up testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Taimy Alvarez / Sun Sentinel(left) Nathan Schwartz Research Technician and Jenny Ketterlin Research Coordinator for the University of Florida pick up different ty[es of traps with different types of bait testing out what works to catch iguanas during part of a $63,000 research project sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach Friday morning. Desperate to keep the burgeoning iguana population under control, the agencies are hoping the research can eventually lead to tips for homeowners who want to purge the pests from their yards and canals. UF has captured and killed 249 iguanas so far along a canal in Davie. They’ve also placed traps in county parks using cherry tomatoes and watermelon as bait. But so far, the traps have snared a few raccoons and zero iguanas.
- Wilfredo Lee / APIn this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, trapper Brian Wood hides behind a tree as he uses a fishing pole with a wire attached to snare an iguana behind a condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. Wood primarily hunts alligators and tans their skins for luxury leather goods, but he's received so many calls from homeowners seeking help with iguanas in the last several years that he created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana in the trap captured by Brian Wood, who specializes in iguana trapping, through his business Iguana Catchers. He says he relocates them to his farm. A female could have 40 to 60 eggs every year, producing babies that he can sell to $5 to $10 each.
- Jose A. Iglesias / Miami HeraldA large mature male Green Iguana roams free in Virginia Key. In the years he's been studying and chasing reptiles around the world, local herptologist Joe Wasilewski has earned himself the distinction of having slayed more invasive iguanas than probably anybody else on the planet: 12,000 and counting. The iguanocide was the result of a program Wasilewski created for Cat Cay in the Bahamas, where invasive green iguanas are wiping out native rock iguanas. Now it looks like Florida can use his expertise. Iguanas have been proliferating for years in South Florida after first appearing in Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. The state largely ignored them, or left the problem to residents to solve, because they mostly inhabited urban areas. But now it looks like more are moving into the Keys and damaging native wildlife.
- Carline Jean / Sun SentinelGreg Snyder pets a large Iguana on a tree along River Walk in Fort Lauderdale. Snyder who has been homeless for the past two years says he spends parts of his days feeding and making friends with the iguanas.
- Susan Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana suns itself on a seawall in Hollywood.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelAn iguana along Old Griffin Road in Dania.
- Mike Stocker / Sun SentinelIguanas gather on the seawall in the Three Islands neighborhood of Hallandale Beach.Now that summer's here, invasive black and green iguanas are infesting South Florida, knocking out power, wrecking gardens, weakening sea walls, getting into plumbing and attics, defecating in pool and causing parasites in pets. They also carry salmonella, botulism.
- Sun Sentinel / ArchivesThe Native Village Wildlife Exhibit closed Sunday afternoon after years of being a tourist attraction. Here is one of many iguanas on the property.
Carline Jean / Sun Sentinel
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An Iguana sunbathing on a tree in plantation, as temperatures in the 40s greeted South Floridians Thursday morning.
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“Leaping lizards!”
That’s how a woman summed up her chance encounter with a green iguana that photobombed her while vacationing in Puerto Rico.
Tammy Ricks recently posted the once-in-a-lifetime shot on Instagram of an immature reptile leaping across her path as she posed at El Morro, the 16th century fort in San Juan.
The photograph went viral after appearing on imgur, inspiring a “Game of Thrones” meme, and on Reddit r/PuertoRico, getting more than 1,000 comments.
A friend captured the memorable moment when the snap-happy iguana climbed up the citadel’s ancient stone walls and went flying through the air before taking off. (The iguana was later seen sipping a pina colada at the nearby Caribe Hilton.)
“I was shocked because I had no idea that iguanas could jump like that,” Ricks told Lonely Planet, a travel website.
Here in South Florida, residents can relate since we are overrun with iguanas, which surely fascinate and entertain visitors.
Recently, a 7-foot, 150-pound monitor lizard has been terrorizing a home Davie, but so far, it hasn’t tried to get in any family snapshots.
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Wildlife in the backyard’s one thing. A 7-foot, 150-pound lizard is quite another. | Video