Culprit 2: Iguana Iguana

A common pet in America, the green iguana has a large feral population in Southern Florida. The feral iguanas, which at first were the pets of a Florida resident but somehow got free, grow up to 6.5 ft in length and 22 lbs in weight.  They live up to 15 years in the wild and 20 in captivity.

As an “exotic” species to Florida, the green iguana has very few predators, leaving their population growth relatively unchecked. Florida tropical environment has nourished the Iguanas and they have thrived there, multiplying in population quickly.

With such a boom in population so quickly they need a lot of food, and because they live in urban areas, this is where the first problem begins. In Florida there are many decorative plants in urban areas, people have mango trees, orange trees, berries or any edible plant in the area. The local homeowners don’t enjoy this and especially hate stepping in the large piles of excrement they leave behind as a thank you present. The Feral iguana also enjoy basking pool side on hot days, using it as a bathroom as well and contaminating it with Salmonella bacteria found in its feces.

Another problem brought on by the iguana is the fact that they poop out what they eat. Because they primarily eat shrubs, trees, landscape plants, orchids, and fruits they spread the seeds to new areas, sometimes assisting other invasive plants in the area such as the shoebutton ardisia, a decorative shrub used in many urban areas but has “escaped” into the forest areas.

Removing the iguanas is a difficult thing to do because the anti-cruelty laws protect them. This means that if a homeowner traps an iguana he must destroy it in as humanely a way possible, or turn it into the proper authorities for humane eradication. After a homeowner has trapped an iguana they cannot, by law, release it back into the wild, it is still and invasive species and whether caught in the wild or not, it does not belong there. Several other iguana repellents are offered to the people who wish to keep these animals away from their homes such as spraying a mixture consisting of 3 cloves of garlic and 4 red-hot peppers mixed with a bucket of water on your plants. Covering their pools while they are not in use, wire screens around the vegetation in the area and removing any piles of rocks, dense thickets or any place an iguana could burrow.

These iguanas have also given birth to a new industry. Iguana Trapping. Some individuals have begun removing iguanas from people’s property as a job. They generally have the proper connections to dispose of the capture animal in a humane manner and do a good service for homeowners with an especially aggressive iguana problem. However these professionals are used as a last result for homeowners because another soon replaces the removed iguana. Meaning that these services are not seen as a permanent solution.