Posted on 02/01/2026 7:06:01 PM PST by dynachrome
It’s raining reptiles!
Iguanas left virtually paralyzed by Florida’s recent unseasonable cold snap are dropping like flies from trees, leaving people to scoop them up by the armload.
When temperatures plummet, the cold-blooded creatures become immobile, and in Florida, where upwards of 1 million iguanas are estimated to typically laze in the treetops, that means torrents of reptiles falling.
“They’re like little bags of ice,” said Jessica Kilgore of the “nuisance animal removal service” Iguana Solutions as she hefted a 10-pound iguana in her arms.
Usually, Floridians are prohibited from handling the iguanas themselves, but this winter, the situation is so severe that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to launch temporary collection sites across the panhandle.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If you feed the 'gators they'll connect humans with food and try to eat YOU!
If you filet them, and cook them and put ketchup on them they taste just like ketchup!
Just a little gamier
I wish I was in . . . Tijuana . . .
Wait! I just have to go to the Panhandle!?
I’m told they’re closer to spotted owl in taste.
Taste like chicken
Chicken of the trees? Don’t tell Jessica Simpson
Exactly. The blessing is the cold weather will put a dent in the population.
I hope people take advantage of the situation to get rid of the buggers.
A friend of mine in south Florida twists the necks of the iguanas and drops them in the waterway behind his house.
This was not on my bingo card
Are lion fish just big catfish?
Visited New Orleans a few months ago and ate catfish. Wonderful fish, and my butcher has it here in Spokane. If he has lion fish, should I buy some? Mild flavor like catfish?
They’ve got lots of gator attractions businesses in FL.
They feed the gators to entertain the tourists. They put a dead chicken on a rope and when the gator comes up out of the water to get it they pull it up to get the gator to come up as high as it can. Fun stuff!
That’s good eating. Especially chunks of fried iguana.
GMTA
They are an invasive species and thus not protected. Mercifully kill them with a machete blow to the head and then remove the tail where all the good meat is. Is it Filet Minion? No it is not. Is it slightly gamey chicken worthy of frying or BBQ? It most definitely such. I lived in Venezuela pre Chavez when it was a good place to live. Iguana was on the poor class diet. It tasted good.
As is alligator I would suggest the South Louisiana style of cooking. A casserole with spices (that meat needs spices) and cooked long and slow until tender. The basic casserole can be many different things, but is wise to stick to tradition.
Cooked correctly it is pretty damn good. I grew up in West Texas and South Louisiana. West Texas was wonderful cuisine centered on beef and Mexican food.
South Louisiana was sea food, and swamp food. All totally delicious. In South Louisiana I got the swamp food from the swamp. It was a paradise for a kid that understood the swamp. We were not poor. I loved what I was doing. If you do not understand the swamp, it might kill you.
From wikipedia:
“The NOAA calls the lionfish a “delicious, delicately flavored fish” similar in texture to grouper.”
I don’t think it’s readily available outside of Florida because spearing them on dives seems to be the most efficient way to catch them for now. They aren’t big either, compared to other game fish, so you might be paying a premium just for the novelty of eating one.
They tried that with the nutria. Didn’t catch on.
CC
A good cook can make them tasty.
People eat them all the time.
It is probably discouraged because the big ones can deliver quite a whipping/blow with their tails (when they aren’t frozen, of course.)
Lion fish are delicious. Their bone structure is very thick. The sweet, flaky, white meat peels easily from the bones . The leftover skeleton looks like something from a cartoon.
Spearing and cleaning them is the challenge. Their spiny fins are very poisonous and painful.
Now I’m hungry.
EC
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