iguana

14 Stories

It's Not Truly Winter in Florida Until the Iguanas Start Falling

Cold snap in Sunshine State has temporarily paralyzed lizards, causing them to drop from trees

(Newser) - The weather forecast for the next few days is out in the Sunshine State, and it's an unusual but not completely foreign prediction. "*FALLING IGUANAS* possible this weekend in Southwest Florida," a WINK meteorologist warned Thursday on social media, citing a phenomenon that often happens when Florida'...

Florida Issues Warning on Falling Iguanas

They were immobilized by cold snap

(Newser) - In Florida, falling temperatures have created a potential hazard to cars and people: falling iguanas. The National Weather Service's Miami office warned Sunday that cold weather can cause the cold-blooded reptiles to go into a coma-like state and lose their grip while resting in trees, BBC reports. "Did...

Florida Man Cites 'Stand Your Ground' in Iguana Killing

The judge was not convinced

(Newser) - A Florida man tried unsuccessfully to duck animal cruelty charges by claiming he had every right to beat an iguana to death under the state's "stand your ground" law. The law allows for the use of deadly force if a person "reasonably believes that using or threatening...

If You're in This State, Look Out for Falling Iguanas

Cold spell in Florida is sending the lizards into dormant state, leading to this odd phenomenon

(Newser) - George Romero did Night of the Living Dead; the Sunshine State is doing Day of the Falling Iguana. In a story that's prompted USA Today to insist "we're not making this up," the large lizards are reacting to a recent cold spell in the South in...

Spotify's New Playlist Is for Your Dog
Spotify for Dogs
Is Now a Thing
Jan 15, 2020 6:29 PM CST

Spotify for Dogs Is Now a Thing

Music streaming service now offers podcasts, custom playlists for dogs, cats, and other pets

(Newser) - The real question is: Will the fish be able to hear it? If you've ever worried that your dog or cat might get lonely while you're at work, Spotify has come up with an official solution, per Reuters : pet-geared playlists and podcasts. After the company's research revealed...

Florida Asks Iguana Hunters to Chill a Little

It explains that this isn't the 'wild west'

(Newser) - At the start of July, the media picked up on a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission advisory that explained it "encourages removal of green iguanas from private properties by landowners"—and it's legal to kill them without a permit. Roughly three weeks later, the commission found itself...

Florida Urges Homeowners to Kill Iguanas When They Can

'The FWC encourages homeowners to kill green iguanas on their own property'

(Newser) - Green iguanas love Florida's consistently warm weather, so much so that the invasive species is a massive problem in the state. "Iguanas have proliferated with such intensity in Southern Florida that they are now a common sight," a zoologist tells ABC News . And as a wildlife scientist...

Iguana on Power Line Sends 20 to a Hospital

Seems the iguana was electrocuted and set off a fire

(Newser) - An iguana wandered onto a power line and knocked out electricity to a Florida nursing home, sending 20 patients to the hospital, the AP reports. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Spokesman Michael Kane says the iguana was electrocuted and set off a fire on the power pole, which knocked out electricity...

Scientists Are Bashing Iguanas' Heads in Florida
Method of Killing Questioned
in Florida Iguana Cull
in case you missed it
Mar 17, 2018 5:41 PM CDT

Method of Killing Questioned in Florida Iguana Cull

Scientists say blunt force trauma is humane

(Newser) - Scientists are sometimes tasked with saving animals from extinction. But in Florida, extinction, at least locally, is the goal. As part of a three-month project aimed at culling high numbers of invasive iguanas in the Sunshine State, researchers at the University of Florida are killing the animals with blunt force...

Australia Is So Hot That Bats Are 'Boiling'

Nation's extreme heat taking a toll on flying foxes

(Newser) - This is the other-side-of-the-world counterpoint to the bizarre sight of frozen iguanas in last week's deep freeze in the US: Hundreds of bats in Australia are essentially boiling to death in the nation's extreme heat . A conservation group near Sydney, where temperatures recently reached 117 degrees, says that...

It Was Raining Iguanas Thursday in Florida
It Was Raining Iguanas
Thursday in Florida
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 7, 2018 3:10 PM CST

It Was Raining Iguanas Thursday in Florida

Cold temperatures froze the lizards, sending them tumbling out of trees

(Newser) - How bonkers was the weather in Florida? It was raining iguanas. The AP reports temperatures in parts of South Florida were below 40 degrees Thursday—well cold enough to freeze iguanas, which aren't native to the area. “They’ll fall out of trees. They’ll end up in...

Cops Bust Guy Trying to Smuggle Iguana Into Court

Look what showed up on the X-ray machine

(Newser) - The Boulder County Justice Center allows service animals into the building, but security guards drew the line when someone tried to sneak his pet iguana through the X-ray machine. Sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Haverfield tells the Daily Camera that security staff caught the reptile as it passed through the machine...

No, Those Iguanas Aren't Dead


 No, Those Iguanas Aren't Dead 
COLD, FLORIDA STYLE
Jan 6, 2010 9:37 PM CST

No, Those Iguanas Aren't Dead

They shut down, fall out of trees in chill, but will revive

(Newser) - No, those iguanas plummeting out of trees all over Florida haven’t been killed by the unusual cold, nor are they suicidal over it. In fact, a Miami zoologist tells WPLG-TV , the lizards’ bodies basically turn off when temps dip below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and they hibernate until things get...

Iguanas Smuggled in Fake Leg
Iguanas Smuggled in Fake Leg
Sep 23, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Iguanas Smuggled in Fake Leg

Lizards fetch thousands on black market

(Newser) - Three endangered iguanas were brought into the US illegally in a special compartment inside a man's removable prosthetic leg. The Fiji Island Banded Iguana  were stolen by Californian Jereme James from a nature preserve in Fiji in 2002. US Fish and Wildlife service began an investigation after a tip-off that...

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