why no Iguanas? (Miami, Cape Coral, Port St. Lucie: house, landscaping, university)

[sammylovesu]

Has anyone ever seen a wild Iguana on the treasure coast area?

this is all the info I could find on their range.


County First Year Extirpated Year Breeding status Notes
BROWARD 2001

Less than 10 years Davie (Townsend et al. 2002)
DADE 1966

At least 10 years Miami area, but not breeding at first (King and Krakauer 1966); probably breeding since 1980 (Butterfield et al. 1997)
LEE 1990s

Less than 10 years Fort Myers (Bartlett and Bartlett 1999); Cape Coral (Krysko et al., in press)
MONROE 1995

Less than 10 years Coral Reef State Park (Duquesnel 1998); found on various keys from Key Largo to Stock Island (Krysko et al., in press) and populations are increasing.
PALM BEACH 2003

Less than 10 years Palm Beach Gardens and Loxahatchee (Krysko et al., in press)

SAINT LUCIE 2003
Not reported breeding West of Port St. Lucie (G. J. Ward and M. A. Flowers, Vero Beach, Florida, personal communication)

[FlaLadyB]

sure.. several. Caught a baby one outside my house here one time. Probably someones pet. He was sitting on top of a bush and I scooped him up..carefully, since they have spines. When I went to Boca to visit the pet cemetery after the hurricanes I saw a MONSTER one sitting on the downed trees running loose. The guy there said they were all over.

[Rabflmom]

Iquanas are not actually native to Florida. The ones you see are the product of released pets and their off spring. They are a problem and increasing in numbers in the Keys though. They are sort of like the pet snake problem in the Everlades.
They are an invasive animal and wreck havoc in yards in extreme South Florida. They eat their way through gardens and leave holes in yards. In 40 years I have never seen any-except for pets in Central Florida.

[sammylovesu]

they're not a problem.. they only eat vegetables and they don't harm native species..

I watched a Bizzare foods episode once where he was down in Key West with a family and they were hunting and eating the Iguanas

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by sammylovesu

they're not a problem.. they only eat vegetables and they don't harm native species..

I watched a Bizzare foods episode once where he was down in Key West with a family and they were hunting and eating the Iguanas

Harm to native things does not just mean physical harm/eating native species. It messes up the eco system and natives disappear. .

Also if you own a house and pay $$$$ for landscaping and an iquana decides to spend time in your yard eating your expensive plants and digging holes in your grass you will think they are a big problem. It is sort of like it is cool that Florida has wild hogs but man if you get some coming into your yard at night you could have $$$$ of damage done to your yard.

[sammylovesu]

The iguana, however, is different from those harmful species: They don't crowd out or kill other, native animals. And none of those creatures have the sheer geographical range of the iguana.

"The iguanas are here, and we're probably not going to eradicate them," said Kenneth Krysko, a herpetology expert with the Florida Museum of Natural History, who once helped catch 1,000 iguanas on Key Biscayne.

Krysko said the lizards were first reported in Miami in 1964. At some point, they were spotted in the Keys. In the '80s and '90s, iguanas became popular pets, but many people couldn't deal with those that grew bigger than their family dog. Now they are common in waterfront subdivisions in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Bill Kern, an urban wildlife specialist and professor at the University of Florida, says there are a few things people can do to stave off the iguanas. Don't feed them (they'll come back for more). Don't plant impatiens or mango trees (iguanas love those). And most of all, don't try to capture them yourself (iguanas are dangerous when cornered).

"If you try to catch them, they will bite, they will scratch, and they will slap you with their tail," he said.
============

sounds like my ex girlfriend.. minus the tail

[lunetunelover]

I saw a HUGE one in West Palm in February.

[Lorac0561]

I saw one in my front yard. Scare me. Pretty color. :_)

[pslhomie]

More than likely you won't see them in PSL because it gets below freezing. If it freezes for more than a few hours they will die. I have seen them on cold days in Miami and thought they were dead but they go into a hibernation like state.

[pattybee]

Originally Posted by pslhomie

More than likely you won't see them in PSL because it gets below freezing.

When was the last time it went below freezing in PSL?