This is from the Miami Herald.It rains iguanas at Bill Baggs park
Posted on Thu, Jan. 03, 2008
Wednesday night's bitter cold came like a giant Sominex for the tree-dwelling iguanas of South Florida.
When the temperature falls below a certain level, the large green lizards drop out of the trees and litter the ground.
They aren't dead. At least a lot of them aren't. It is as if they are in suspended animation, said Robert Yero, park manager at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.
It was raining iguanas at Bill Baggs Thursday morning. There were a couple underneath buttonwood trees and a third beneath a sea grape. All were about 30 yards from the beach, in the coastal hammock.
''We have found dozens on the bike path after a major cold snap,'' said Yero. ``When they warm up in the sun, they come back to life.''
Yero isn't too fond of the comatose critters. They are exotics from Central and South America, brought in as pets and then released to the wilds by their owners when they got too big for the house.
They munch on the foliage, literally nipping in the bud efforts to revive native vegetation.
''They really are taking over,'' Yero said.
When the temperature falls below a certain level, the large green lizards drop out of the trees and litter the ground.
They aren't dead. At least a lot of them aren't. It is as if they are in suspended animation, said Robert Yero, park manager at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.
It was raining iguanas at Bill Baggs Thursday morning. There were a couple underneath buttonwood trees and a third beneath a sea grape. All were about 30 yards from the beach, in the coastal hammock.
''We have found dozens on the bike path after a major cold snap,'' said Yero. ``When they warm up in the sun, they come back to life.''
Yero isn't too fond of the comatose critters. They are exotics from Central and South America, brought in as pets and then released to the wilds by their owners when they got too big for the house.
They munch on the foliage, literally nipping in the bud efforts to revive native vegetation.
''They really are taking over,'' Yero said.
Yuck! All those who know me know that I DO NOT like lizards of any kind. Small brown ones are all over my yard and I hate it. Big green ones are worse. Fortunately, I haven't seen any big ole iguanas in my yard but my husband snapped these pictures of one on one of our trees out back. I would not feel bad at all if they froze!
Oh, and if you are ever in Miami and go to Fairchild Tropical Gardens... although the place is beautiful, you will run into a ton of these! Triple yuck! They look like dinosaurs and some are easily 0ver
5 ft long.
5 ft long.
4 comments:
Oh my goodness - who ever heard of such a thing?
Hahaha, too funny! I'm familiar with the lizards falling out of the trees on cold days. Those two lizards on top are called basilisk lizards, or "Jesus Christ" lizards because they are able to run across the surface of the water. All lizards in Florida, not just iguanas, are exotics, like the park manager said in the article.
very icky. We don't have lizards in Wisconsin, yay!
:o)
Triple EWWWWW! I have never heard of such a thing. Stay inside!!! lol
Happy New Year!!!
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