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Extended cold could kill invasive iguanas
Sun-Sentinel ^ | January 4, 2010 | Linda Trischitta

Posted on 01/05/2010 8:15:58 AM PST by ConservativeStatement

With this week's evening temperatures falling toward the upper 30s, strange fruit may drop from South Florida trees: non-native, invading iguanas that many residents consider more pest than pet.

"It's a big deal for me," Jessica Morgan, a Margate homeowner, said as she watched a yard-long, bright orange male iguana roam near her butterfly habitat. The reptile has a slightly smaller green girlfriend.

"They climb up on the bank and will poop on my dock," she said. "Fingers crossed that this cold snap will kill them. I don't have the heart to beat one to death. I hope the weather does it for me."

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: florida; globalwarming; iguanas; wildlife; winter
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To: Red Badger

When we first moved to Florida I was driving down the road one night when seemingly out of nowhere this armadillo is sitting in the middle of my lane. My wife screeched not to hit it. Not a problem, I thought, I’ll just drive over top of him. He’s not THAT big.

That’s when I got introduced to what armadillos do when they are scared - they jump. So as I drove over him, he got scared and it sounded like a basketball thumping down the underside of my vehicle.


21 posted on 01/05/2010 8:38:32 AM PST by VeniVidiVici (I'd rather be an AGW denier than a dumbass Watermelon)
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To: bert

LMAO!!!


22 posted on 01/05/2010 8:42:20 AM PST by seeker41 (CULPRIT CHINESE COMPANY INFO.)
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To: VeniVidiVici

Yes they can jump 3 feet or more into the air. People don’t realize this until they meet one unexpectedly................


23 posted on 01/05/2010 8:43:24 AM PST by Red Badger (Obama - The first ever elected lame duck..............)
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To: ConservativeStatement

Man they let anybody on MTV back in those days. LOL

My sister and her husband were both going to MSU at the time and I think I may have seen Wall Of Voodoo at a free concert during one of my visits to Lansing.


24 posted on 01/05/2010 8:44:09 AM PST by cripplecreek (Seniors, the new shovel ready project under socialized medicine.)
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To: ConservativeStatement

A fun game Flying Iquana, getting a little .22 and a red-dot scope.

A two man team, first man shoots under it to pop it in the air, second man hit it at the arc.

Give style points and points for hits.


25 posted on 01/05/2010 8:44:58 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
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To: ConservativeStatement

I love Iguanas, do rescue when one comes my way. That said, it’s much more humane to shoot them than let them freeze to death. They shouldn’t have been imported to this country anyway. People buy them when they’re cute little green lizards not thinking that someday they’ll be 5 feet long, need a very specialized diet (they’re vegetarians), and maintain much of their wild characteristics. Why these people haven’t contacted rescue organizations, they’re in every state, I don’t know.

Cindie


26 posted on 01/05/2010 8:46:34 AM PST by gardencatz (God bless the Marines...I pray for you constantly my precious son!)
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To: JulieRNR21; kinganamort; katherineisgreat; floriduh voter; summer; Goldwater Girl; windchime; ...
If the cold snap is going to kill the iguanas, let's hope it does the same for Nile Monitors and assorted pythons that also shouldn't be here.

My standing doctrine for treating these critters is "shoot on sight". If mother nature wants to lend a hand, more power to it.

Florida Freeper


27 posted on 01/05/2010 8:50:21 AM PST by Joe Brower (Sheep have three speeds: "graze", "stampede" and "cower".)
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To: HospiceNurse
Here’s a recipe of truly Mexican. “Iguana stew”.

I didn't notice that many iguanas until the real estate market collapsed and many of the illegals went home.

28 posted on 01/05/2010 8:54:13 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: HospiceNurse

I saw Anthony Bourdain a while back in his Food Network series, and he tried to eat just about everything he could find on the planet, including insects. However, when he came to taste iguana, he made it clear that he would never try to eat it again!


29 posted on 01/05/2010 8:59:33 AM PST by Fractal Trader
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To: ConservativeStatement

“If somebody is looking to trap them, I guess right now would be a good time because they’re not moving,” she said.”

If they are not moving, how do they get into the trap?


30 posted on 01/05/2010 9:00:26 AM PST by Hacklehead (Liberalism is the art of taking what works, breaking it, and then blaming conservatives.)
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To: Red Badger

31 posted on 01/05/2010 9:10:04 AM PST by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Constitution Day; Tijeras_Slim; al baby; Tax-chick

That's "Tiajunna," yew phewwwl.

32 posted on 01/05/2010 9:21:25 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: ConservativeStatement

It will be about 74 degrees, sunny and clear in Southern California today!


33 posted on 01/05/2010 9:24:28 AM PST by dragnet2
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To: ConservativeStatement

Iguanas aren’t particularly harmful although they look dangerous.

But wouldn’t it be nice if all the pythons and boas that have been let loose in Florida by nutso hobbists would die. Those things are dangerous to man and beast.


34 posted on 01/05/2010 10:19:33 AM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: wildbill

Iguanas are a terror on the vegetable garden and flowering shrubs, etc. They can strip a hibiscus of 50 flowers in a couple of hours. And the droppings are particularly nasty. I doubt that it will get cold enough here in the Lower Florida Keys to kill ‘em. Heck, they swim so well, they’d probably head for the water which is 15-20 degrees warmer than the air.
It’s only been 5 years perhaps since I saw my first iguana here and now they are everywhere, some approaching 5 feet in length.


35 posted on 01/05/2010 10:33:44 AM PST by jsh3180
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To: Buckeye McFrog

If only it worked on imported fire ants!


36 posted on 01/05/2010 10:52:01 AM PST by brytlea (Jesus loves me, this I know.)
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To: bert
goofyiguana I loved the look on this one's face.
37 posted on 01/05/2010 10:55:43 AM PST by brytlea (Jesus loves me, this I know.)
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To: jsh3180

I have noticed many more the past couple of years too, here in Delray Beach/Boca. I have to admit, they are fun to see, but they aren’t native and they are destructive, so I’m all for getting rid of them. We are also covered up with Northern Curly Tailed lizards (from the Bahamas I think) and Cuban Anoles, which seem to outdo the native green anoles, which I rarely see now.


38 posted on 01/05/2010 11:00:44 AM PST by brytlea (Jesus loves me, this I know.)
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To: jsh3180

You’ve persuaded me. Get yourself a .22 and off the little buggers.


39 posted on 01/05/2010 1:24:10 PM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: cripplecreek

That and “The Walls Came Down” by the Call. Remember that one?


40 posted on 01/05/2010 2:55:36 PM PST by ConservativeStatement (Obama lies, Freedom dies)
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