Articles with headlines like “It’s Raining Iguanas” often appear in local media every time a major cold front hits—but only few of them talk about what actually happens to the iguanas that fall.
From the perspective of protecting Florida’s natural environment, iguanas are invasive species. When massive numbers fall from trees during cold weather like today, they are collected and euthanized. The state wildlife agency sets up many pickup sites and reports say the iguanas are euthanized “humanely, without causing pain”.
However, because no specific methods are described, I’m skeptical.
When it comes to iguanas on private property such as someone’s home or land, how they are handled is left to the owner’s decisions. There is even an annual iguana-hunting contes in this area to reduce the numbers of this invasive creatures.
In the end, iguanas that were once pets irresponsibly brought in by humans have become part of the everyday landscape. Yet in this season, when they become immobile due to the temperature drop, large numbers of them are eliminated by our convenience..
They originally spread after being imported as pets from Central America, such as Costa Rica. The same thing has happened with pythons that were dumped and bred deep inside national parks (including areas by Alligator Alcatraz)
It makes me very sad and mad that situations like this keep happening because of irresponsible people.
#SouthFlorida #FloridaNews #FloridaLife
https://www.local10.com/weather/2026/02/01/its-raining-iguanas-reptiles-drop-from-trees-by-the-handful-during-south-florida-cold-snap/