Green iguana.
\nFWC Photo by Andy Wraithmell<\/p>\n
Find a cold-snapped iguana lying comatose in your yard?<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t want the invasive reptile waking up and scurrying along your seawall once the weather warms up, you can drop it off at a collection point in Fort Myers today.<\/p>\n
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order outlining special regulations designed to temporarily allow people to remove live, cold-stunned green iguanas \u2014 a large lizard \u2014\u00a0from the wild without a permit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe special regulations under Executive Order 26-03 provide a unique opportunity for members of the public to remove green iguanas from their property during this unusual cold-weather event and bring them to the FWC, no permit required, to be humanely killed or, in some cases, transferred to permittees for live animal sales,\u201d a release from FWC issued Friday states. \u201cGreen iguanas are a Prohibited species in Florida, and other than during the dates listed within EO 26-03, may not be possessed without a permit \u2014 including temporarily, such as during transport.\u201d<\/p>\n
The order allows people without a permit to be in temporary possession of reptiles so they can collect and transport the cold-stunned lizards to the FWC.<\/p>\n
Special regulations under EO 26-03 include:<\/p>\n
Staff at five FWC locations will receive wild, cold-stunned iguanas collected by the public today, Monday, Feb. 2 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. <\/p>\n
The drop-off location in Fort Myers is the FWC Law Enforcement Office at 2423 Edwards Drive.<\/p>\n
People without a permit may only be in possession of live green iguanas for the purpose of transport to the FWC and under the regulations of the executive order. Removal may be done by property owners or by members of the public with landowner permission. <\/p>\n
The regulations apply to any Southwest regions.<\/p>\n
For your safety, the FWC recommends:<\/p>\n
\u2022 When collecting live, cold stunned green iguanas for removal, members of the public should wear protective gloves, pants and long-sleeved shirts to protect themselves from potential scratches. <\/p>\n
\u2022 The iguanas must be contained in a secure, escape-proof, cloth sack or bag. Only cloth sacks or bags may be used for primary containment to ensure breathability, and they must be securely closed shut. Once collected and prior to transport in your vehicle to an FWC office, the secured collection bags should be placed into a second secure, locked transport container labeled \u201cProhibited Reptiles.\u201d Collected iguanas should be transported to the FWC immediately to limit the likelihood of the iguanas regaining their ability to move freely.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Once transport has begun, collection bags or sacks must remain closed or sealed until they are transferred to FWC staff. This is to both keep the iguanas from escaping into a new location and to prevent the iguanas from getting loose in your vehicle if they start to recover from torpor.<\/p>\n
Invasive green iguanas are not protected in Florida except by state anti-cruelty laws, and members of the public may humanely kill green iguanas year-round on their property or with landowner permission. <\/p>\n
\u201cEO 26-03 provides people wishing to remove green iguanas from their property \u2013 but unable to safely or humanely kill iguanas themselves \u2013 the opportunity to remove them during this unusual, sustained cold weather event and bring them to the FWC,\u201d the release states. \u201cOutside of the conditions under this executive order, people needing assistance with safe and humane removal of iguanas can contact a professional wildlife control operator. Landowners wanting to discourage iguanas from frequenting their property can find more information at MyFWC.com\/Nonnatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
When temperatures drop and sustain to near-freezing or below, reptiles and amphibians, including nonnative green iguanas, can go into a state of torpor, where they temporarily lose muscle control and appear \u201cfrozen\u201d \u2014 sometimes even falling out of trees. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe FWC reminds the public that if you encounter a cold-stunned green iguana, you should never bring it into your home or building to warm up and never put it into your vehicle unless specifically transporting to the FWC under the regulations of EO 26-03,\u201d FWC officials said. \u201cIguanas can recover from cold-stunning more quickly than you might expect and, once recovered, can act defensively, with long tails that whip and sharp teeth and claws.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 600 nonnative fish and wildlife species have been reported in Florida. Eighty percent of these have been introduced via the live animal trade, with 139 species established in Florida, meaning they are reproducing in the wild. Invasive species management is a high priority for the FWC because these animals negatively impact native fish and wildlife, cause damage that is costly to repair, and can pose a threat to human health and safety.<\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Green iguana. FWC Photo by Andy Wraithmell Find a cold-snapped iguana lying comatose in your yard? If you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-140736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}