Florida's latest cold snap gave residents the green light to wage war on an invasive species.
Iguanas started raining from trees by the thousands when temperatures crashed into the 30s.
And Floridians turned this iguana invasion into a free-for-all that made wildlife officials do a double-take.
Florida's Cold Snap Turned Iguanas Into Easy Pickings
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission opened temporary collection sites across the Panhandle when temperatures plummeted below 40 degrees.
The frigid weather sent cold-blooded iguanas into a state called torpor where they literally freeze in place.
Jessica Kilgore from Iguana Solutions walked Hollywood beaches collecting "hundreds of pounds worth" of temporarily frozen reptiles.
"They're like little bags of ice," Kilgore said while hefting a 10-pound iguana.
The state suspended its normal prohibition on handling the invasive lizards.
People could "pick them up like Easter eggs on the ground" they were so plentiful.
More than 8,000 iguanas were removed across South Florida in just two days.
FWC sites collected 5,195 cold-stunned iguanas with one location in Sunrise receiving over 1,000 in a single day.
Private removal companies like IggyTrap scooped up another 800 iguanas Sunday morning alone.
One resident brought between 50 and 100 iguanas to collection sites.
Another collected "over 100 pounds of iguanas" in just "45 minutes to an hour."
Tom Portuallo of Iguana Control sent 12 workers to collect 800 iguanas from a single municipality.
His company then grabbed another 200 to 300 from homeowners associations.
"It was a banner day, if you will," Portuallo said.
The Sunshine State's Million-Iguana Problem Started in the 1960s
Green iguanas hitchhiked to Florida from Central and South America during hurricanes in the 1960s.
The pet trade exploded in the 1980s when iguanas became the hottest reptile you could buy.
Pet owners started dumping iguanas into the wild when they got too big, too mean, or too sick to handle.
One exotic pet dealer allegedly released 300 iguanas at once in the 1970s.
Female iguanas can lay up to 70 eggs per year.
The population exploded from a few hundred to an estimated 1 million iguanas statewide.
West Palm Beach shelled out $1.8 million in 2020 to fix a dam destroyed by iguana burrows.
Lake Worth Beach blamed iguanas for 16 power outages in 2024 when they crawled into electrical substations.
The lizards tear through gardens, contaminate swimming pools, and carry salmonella bacteria.
Professional hunter John Johnson killed 255 iguanas in 2023 on Marco Island.
His total jumped to 730 iguanas in 2024 as the population kept growing.
Florida made it illegal in 2021 to possess, breed, or sell iguanas without special permits.
That backfired spectacularly.
Before the ban, reptile dealers exported hundreds of thousands of iguanas annually.
"If you have had hundreds of thousands or millions being harvested and that all stops, it stands to reason that's going to increase the population," USARK-FL spokesman Daniel Parker said.
Florida reversed course in May 2025 allowing people to trap and sell iguanas out-of-state again.
Wildlife Officials Have One Warning About "Frozen" Iguanas
FWC warned Floridians never to bring cold-stunned iguanas inside homes or vehicles.
The reptiles aren't actually frozen despite appearing dead.
When temperatures warm up, iguanas snap out of torpor faster than people expect.
"Iguanas 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," FWC said.
Kilgore explained residents could either let iguanas thaw in the sun or surrender them to collection sites.
"If you want to allow him to defrost, go ahead and move him to the sun, and he'll go ahead and scramble right up the trees," Kilgore said.
FWC either transfers iguanas to licensed out-of-state sellers or humanely euthanizes them.
Some Floridians see the invasive reptiles as dinner instead of pests.
Kilgore said iguanas are important to "a lot of different cultures" that eat every part including eggs.
"So this is easy snacks falling out of trees this morning," Kilgore said.
Florida-based angler Darcie Arahill hunts iguanas with bow and arrow.
She posted YouTube videos showing how to cook them.
Arahill boils iguana meat with potatoes and carrots "to the point where the meat just falls off the bone."
The reptiles are called "chicken of the trees" in Caribbean cultures where they're considered a delicacy.
Look, Florida created this problem by letting the exotic pet trade run wild for decades.
Now the state has more invasive reptiles than anywhere on Earth with over 60 nonnative species breeding in the wild.
That's three times as many invasive lizards as native species.
The 2021 ban was classic government overreach that made the invasion worse by shutting down the only thing controlling iguana numbers.
Private industry was removing hundreds of thousands annually until bureaucrats decided they knew better.
Florida finally admitted defeat and reopened commercial hunting in 2025.
But the damage was done.
An estimated million iguanas now destroy infrastructure, wipe out native species, and cost taxpayers millions in repairs.
The cold snap gave Floridians a rare chance to fight back without red tape.
https://twitter.com/WeatherNation/status/2018406567003967781
And they jumped on it by the armload.
Sources:
- Caitlin McCormack, "Floridians gather frozen iguanas by armloads as frigid temps leave them paralyzed, dropping from trees," New York Post, February 1, 2026.
- Briana Nespral, "1,000+ green iguanas turned in to FWC in 1 day during historic South Florida cold snap," NBC 6 South Florida, February 2, 2026.
- "Over 5,000 frozen iguanas removed across Florida during recent cold snap," CBS Miami, February 4, 2026.
- "An unstoppable invasion," Florida Weekly, February 4, 2026.
- "Florida's iguana invasion is getting worse," CBS Miami, January 13, 2023.
- Natalie Claunch, "Iguanas are falling out of trees in Florida—here's why," National Geographic, February 2, 2026.
- "Thousands of iguanas collected during South Florida cold snap," Sun Sentinel, February 4, 2026.
