{"id":454707,"date":"2026-02-07T15:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454707\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T15:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T15:43:14","slug":"iguanas-fell-from-trees-during-florida-cold-snap-and-the-numbers-are-staggering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454707\/","title":{"rendered":"Iguanas Fell From Trees During Florida Cold Snap\u2014and the Numbers Are Staggering"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you didn\u2019t know already, it\u2019s not unheard of<\/a> for it to rain iguanas in Florida, where colder-than-average winter temperatures make the reptiles drowsy and cold-stunned, causing them to fall from trees. As brutal winter storms ravaged<\/a> the southeastern U.S. over the past few weeks, Florida saw a spattering of frozen iguana rain like never before.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Florida\u2019s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported<\/a> that, in just two days, it had removed 5,195 iguanas with public help. Iggy Trap, a private pest control service, told NBC Miami<\/a> that it had captured over 1,500 iguanas during the previous weekend. Combined with other private services, the estimated number of frozen iguanas is about 8,000, according<\/a> to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly a significant number,\u201d Ron Magill, a wildlife expert at Zoo Miami, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/a>. \u201cBut I think there are still a lot of iguanas left, and I think it speaks to the number of these animals that are actually in our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why is it raining iguanas? <\/p>\n

Green iguanas are considered<\/a> invasive pests by the FWC. This means they are not subject to anti-cruelty laws in Florida and can be captured and killed without a permit<\/a>. However, the FWC has recommended<\/a> contacting professional removal services to safely and humanely remove iguanas from private property.<\/p>\n

To Florida residents, these iguanas are a serious menace. They chew on power lines, damage gardens and farms, attack native species, and poop in your swimming pool\u2014dishonorable behavior that has led to some even referring to them as the \u201cgreen plague<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just during warmer seasons. In winter, iguana threats shift in the strangest way; when temperatures drop to below 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 degrees Celsius), they appear to \u201cdrop dead\u201d and spontaneously fall out of trees.<\/p>\n

To be clear, these iguanas are still alive\u2014they\u2019re just stiff and unmoving until it gets warmer. But they\u2019re also known to grow over 5 feet (1.5 meters) in length, and such giant creatures suddenly falling from the sky pose clear safety hazards to communities.<\/p>\n

A sweeping iguana hunt <\/p>\n

In response, this Monday the FWC issued an executive order<\/a> granting temporary permission for the public to gather cold-stunned iguanas and bring them to FWC collection points.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an invasive species, green iguanas have negative impacts on Florida\u2019s environment and economy,\u201d said FWC Executive Director Roger Young in the statement. The removal of over 5,000 of the invasive lizards was \u201conly possible thanks to the coordinated efforts of [FWC staff], our partners, and of course the many residents that took the time to collect and turn in cold-stunned iguanas from their properties,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

FWC officials told NBC Miami that it plans to release statewide removal numbers and that the captured iguanas will be euthanized or transported for live pet sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you didn\u2019t know already, it\u2019s not unheard of for it to rain iguanas in Florida, where colder-than-average…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[2808,4167,17532,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-454707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-invasive-species","10":"tag-reptiles","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}