FLORIDA: IGUANAS NOW

South Florida is now seeing an iguana infestation. Native to Central and South America, green iguanas that escaped or were dumped as pets have been breeding in the Miami suburbs and the Keys for at least a decade. They can grow to more than 5 feet long. They’ve been considered mostly harmless because they eat plants instead of native animals. But now there are just too many. They burrow underneath seawalls, sidewalks and levees, and they eat their way through valuable landscaping as well as native plants. Whereas ten years ago you might see one or two, now you’re likely to see 10 or 20 sunning themselves on a seawall. Iguana trapper Brian Wood has created a pest control business called Iguana Catchers. He’s been euthanizing them and selling their meat as a delicacy. He’s also trying to generate interest in iguana skins as a sustainable leather source, alongside alligator and python skins.
* Oh, yeah – alligators and pythons – almost forgot about those.
* The good news is the iguanas give the pythons something to eat.
* Or maybe it’s the other way around.
* Attention, Shark Tank: Iguana chastity belts?
* Five feet long? I don’t think I can eat a five-foot iguana steak.
* Maybe they could turn it into one of those professional eating contests.
* Iguana skins as a sustainable leather source? More like an out-of-control leather source.
* It says the iguanas are native to Central and South America? Maybe once but not anymore.
* Now they also live in Miami.