{"id":576976,"date":"2026-02-09T07:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/576976\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T07:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:22:11","slug":"over-100-pounds-within-45-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/576976\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Over 100 pounds \u2026 within 45 minutes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Record-breaking lows in South Florida facilitated the capture of over a thousand invasive green iguanas, WTVJ<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

What’s happening?<\/p>\n

On Jan. 30, residents in South Florida experienced record low temperatures not seen in “over a century,” according to the Sun Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Typically, temperatures in Miami range from a high of 75F to a low of 59F in February<\/a>, but locals woke up to a chilly, “historic<\/a>” 35F day on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

While the weather was unusual for locals, it was catastrophic for Florida’s invasive green iguanas. Thousands of the creatures fell into a state known as “torpor,” often described as short-term, involuntary hibernation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to WTVJ, meteorologists warned that green iguanas would be left “cold-stunned and immobile,” but hearing about it and witnessing it are very different things.<\/p>\n

Palm Beach County’s WPEC<\/a> shared a gallery of bizarre scenes in the region, with “iguanas literally dropping out of trees” or seen motionless on sidewalks and lawns.<\/p>\n

Before the cold snap, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recognized an opportunity to leverage icy conditions, issuing an executive order<\/a> on Jan. 30 to allow residents to collect “live, cold-stunned green iguanas” without a permit.<\/p>\n

Many locals acted<\/a> when the restriction on possessing green iguanas was lifted, gathering the creatures and dropping them off at one of several designated collection sites.<\/p>\n

“One resident said he had brought in between 50 and 100 iguanas, and another said he’d collected ‘over 100 pounds of iguanas’ within ’45 minutes to an hour,'” WTVJ reported.<\/p>\n

Why is this important?<\/p>\n

Florida’s frozen, falling green iguanas were the result of two converging environmental concerns in the Sunshine State: extreme weather, in the form of extreme cold, and invasive species.<\/p>\n

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency explained<\/a> that sustained rising temperatures have given rise to unstable wintry atmospheric patterns, particularly dangerous “deeper, slow-moving low-pressure systems” strengthened by increased evaporation.<\/p>\n

Extreme weather is increasing in frequency and severity worldwide, and as CISA noted, historic lows can create a “dangerous environment for people, animals, and critical infrastructure.”<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the FWC classified green iguanas as a prohibited invasive species.<\/p>\n

Invasive species are defined by their destabilizing impact on new ecosystems, rapid rates of reproduction, and adverse effects on native species, which are forced to compete with non-native wildlife for food and resources.<\/p>\n

Green iguanas in Florida have taken a toll on endangered species by consuming parts of their habitat, and like other invasive pests, they can transmit pathogens such as Salmonella.<\/p>\n

In essence, extreme weather enabled the FWC to remove over 1,000 invasive iguanas.<\/p>\n

What’s being done about it?<\/p>\n

The FWC provided detailed safety instructions<\/a> for residents aiding iguana eradication efforts.<\/p>\n

More broadly, WTVJ<\/a> reported that another cold front was in the forecast, and counties such as Hillsborough<\/a> issued guidance to help residents safely navigate more extreme cold.<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Record-breaking lows in South Florida facilitated the capture of over a thousand invasive green iguanas, WTVJ reported. What’s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":576977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[236828,244747,14896,159,7049,67,132,68,837,250446],"class_list":{"0":"post-576976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-extreme-cold","9":"tag-green-iguanas","10":"tag-invasive-species","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-south-florida","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-wildlife","17":"tag-wtvj"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}