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Posted on 03/05/2022 5:04:11 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT
Standing in a boat in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Chris Whitaker aimed a .25-caliber air rifle at a large green iguana on a canal bank and squeezed the trigger.
Whitaker and his girlfriend, Krissy Garcia, had paid $500 to Hunting Iguanas LLC for four hours of iguana hunting in Broward County, where the nonnative reptiles have found a congenial home along canals lined with a lush variety of trees.
Hated in many neighborhoods for consuming flowers, fruit trees and vegetable gardens, green iguanas have become a business opportunity for several companies that lead guided hunts along South Florida canals. While many residents cheered on the iguana hunters on a recent excursion, the air rifles required several shots for a kill, subjecting many iguanas to lingering deaths.
Whitaker, 29, an experienced hunter, had flown to Fort Lauderdale from Tyler, Texas, with his girlfriend just to try his hand at shooting iguanas. “I saw it on Facebook, and I thought, ‘Man, I gotta do this,’” he said.
They shot 26 iguanas off trees and off the canal banks, moving slowly through the network of canals that have kept the neighborhood dry in what used to be the Everglades. Krissy Garcia brought down a couple of large ones, their skin a combination of orange, brown and green.
Along the canals, residents cheered on the hunters for taking down reptiles who consumed their gardens and fruit trees. The iguanas’ industrious digging also damages power lines, sidewalks and seawalls.
“Thank you for doing this, man!” James Mathew shouted from his backyard on the canal bank. “I was happy when I see you guys doing this.”
He said the iguanas have devoured all his attempts to grow things.
(Excerpt) Read more at union-bulletin.com ...
Pythons eat alligators...
Definitely forced persepective. Compare the size of the hands to the head; way out of proportion. Good pics, though. I’ve caught some largemouth bass that were a good bit bigger than that fish in the pic. Haven’t bagged any iguanas yet, though... we don’t see to have them at all in my area.
“Do you know what they taste like?”
“No. Do they taste like chicken?”
“No, they taste like Iguana!”
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