Bitterly Cold With a Chance of Falling Frozen Iguanas

Florida's latest weather forecast includes something most meteorologists never thought they'd predict… falling frozen lizards.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Something unusual happens when temperatures drop in Florida. The weather
forecast starts including warnings that sound like a rejected plot
line from a disaster movie. Meteorologists find themselves typing phrases
they never came across in weather school. The National Weather
Service issues alerts about falling reptiles. I'm Darren Marler, and

(00:32):
this is weird dark news. On November tenth, twenty twenty five,
parts of South Florida received a weather warning unlike any
other state experiences, Temperatures were expected to dip into the
high thirties, and with that chill came an official advisory
about cold, stunned green iguanas potentially falling out of trees.

(00:53):
The phenomenons become a near annual occurrence, strange enough that
weather services have created unofficial falling iguana warnings to inform
residents that the lizards they might discover on sidewalks and
pool decks are typically just temporarily paralyzed, not deceased. The
National Weather Service put it plainly, saying iguanas are cold blooded.

(01:15):
They slow down or become immobile when temps drop into
the forties. They may fall from trees, but they are
not dead. That last part is pretty important because Floridians,
they have learned the hard way what happens when you
assume a frozen iguana is permanently frozen. Green iguanas thrive
in Florida's subtropical warmth, spending their days lounging in trees

(01:37):
like scaly retirees. They enjoy temperatures that keep their cold
blooded systems functioning properly. When the thermometer drops below fifty degrees,
things start to get a bit sluggish. When it hits
the thirties and forties, their muscles stop responding all together.
The iguanas don't die when this happens. They utter estate

(01:57):
called torpor, a survival mechanism where they slow their metabolic
rate to conserve energy during cold weather, kind of like
their version of hibernation, but extremely temporary. Their bodies stiffen up,
they lose their grip on branches, and gravity takes over.
The frozen iguanas can remain paralyzed on the ground for
hours until the weather warms up enough to let their

(02:18):
blood thow. The paralysis is temporary, a fact that has
led to some memorable encounters. Ron McGill, communications director as
Zoo Miami shared a story on NPR that perfectly illustrates
why Florida's falling iguana phenomenon is both hilarious and hazardous.
A man discovered multiple frozen iguanas during a cold snap,

(02:40):
and he saw an opportunity. Iguana meat is considered a
delicacy in some cultures, earning the reptiles the nickname Chicken
of the Trees. The man loaded his car with the stiff,
immobilized lizards while driving. The car's heater warmed up the
car's interior. The iguanas thawed, They woke up, and they
were not pleased about their current situation or location. The

(03:03):
now very mobile iguanas attacked their captor while he was
behind the wheel. The story serves as a cautionary tale
about assuming a frozen iguana will stay frozen, and why
bringing them into enclosed spaces ranks among Florida's worst ideas.
Green iguanas were first reported in Florida during the nineteen
sixties in areas around Miami Dade County, including Hyalea, Coral Gables,

(03:27):
and Kivas Gain. They likely arrived as stowaways on cargo
ships from South America or as escaped pets that discovered
Florida's climate suited them perfectly, with no natural predators and
ideal conditions for breeding. The population exploded. These are not
small creatures. Males commonly reach four to six feet in
length and weigh between eight and seventeen pounds, with exceptional

(03:51):
specimens exceeding seven feet and twenty pounds. Females typically measure
three to five feet in weigh six to twelve pounds.
During cold snaps, side walks and roads become littered with
what essentially amounts to scaly missiles dropped from above. Iguanas
congregate along canal banks, shrubs, culverts, drainage pipes, rock piles,

(04:11):
and golf courses. When temperatures are cold enough, these petrified
reptiles appear on sidewalks, pool decks, and occasionally draped across
unfortunate vehicles. On November eleventh, twenty twenty five, photos circulated
on social media showing frozen iguanas in Port Charlotte on
the west coast of Florida, and Howard Park and West
Palm Beach on the East coast of Florida. Local media

(04:33):
described past incidents as a frozen iguana shower in which
dozens of the reptiles littered bike paths. The November twenty
twenty five cold snap proved significant enough to set multiple
temperature records across Florida. Jacksonville and Savannah, Georgia, both dropped
to twenty eight degrees on the morning of November eleventh,
marking the coldest temperatures so early in fall since nineteen

(04:56):
seventy six. Vero Beach hit forty degrees and Fort Pierce
reached forty one degrees, both breaking record lows set in
nineteen ninety one. Even Miami flirted with a record low,
coming up one degree shorts at forty nine degrees. These
temperatures created ideal conditions for iguana paralysis. According to Zoo
Miami's Ron McGill, temperatures need to stay below fifty degrees

(05:19):
constantly to slow an iguana down considerably. Smaller iguanas become
cold stunned faster than larger ones. A two foot iguana
would become immobilized after a couple of hours at fifty degrees,
while a six foot iguana would take about twice as long.
The cold snap was forecast to be short lived, with
temperatures rebounding into the upper seventies for highs in Miami.

(05:41):
By later in the week. For the iguanas, that meant
a brief period of involuntary paralysis followed by business as usual.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has developed specific
guidelines for encountering cold stunned green iguanas, primarily because residents
kept making the same mistakes. The Commission's November tenth, twenty
twenty five advisory was clear, if you encounter a cold

(06:03):
stunned green iguana, do not bring it into your home, vehicle,
or building. Non Native green iguanas are wild animals, and
once they recover and warm up, they could act defensively.
This warning exists because enough people tried the opposite approach.
Faldett Borg and her son in Florida discovered a frozen
iguana in their yard and filmed themselves testing whether it

(06:25):
was actually frozen by poking its tail with a stick.
The iguana remained motionless. They encountered a second iguana that
proved more lively, demonstrating the unpredictability of cold stunned reptiles.
The Commission also warns that iguanas can bite and scratch
when they recover and feel threatened. Instead of attempting heroic rescues,

(06:46):
residents are encouraged to call pest control services for professional removal.
Green Iguanas were added to Florida's prohibited list on Eviril
twenty ninth, twenty twenty one. People cannot possess live green
iguanas without a permit, becaus they're not native to Florida.
Releasing or relocating captured iguanas is illegal. They're not protected
except by anti cruelty laws, meaning that they can be

(07:09):
captured and humanely killed on private property at any time
with landowner permission. The designation as an invasive species is
well earned. Green Iguanas cause substantial damage to residential and
commercial landscape vegetation. They're attracted to trees with foliage or flowers,
most fruits except citrus, and almost any vegetable. They're burrowing habits,

(07:30):
eod and collapse sidewalks, foundations, sea walls, berms, and canal banks.
They leave droppings on docks, moored boats, sea walls, porches, decks,
pool platforms, and even inside swimming pools. Research has found
more troubling impacts in Billbag's Cape. Florida State Park. Scientists
discovered the remains of tree snails in green iguana stomachs,

(07:53):
suggesting threats to native and endangered tree snail species. In
Mahai Honda State Park, iguanas consumed nickerbean, a host plant
of the endangered Miami blue butterfly. The iguana population has
expanded beyond its original foothold. Green iguana populations now stretch
along the Atlantic coast in Broward, Martin, Miami, Dade, Monroe,

(08:15):
and Palm Beach Counties, and along the Gulf coast in
Collier and Lee Counties. Reports have emerged as far north
as Alachua Highlands, Hillsboro, Indian River, and Saint Lucia Counties,
though individuals in northern counties are likely escaped pets rather
than established populations. A two week cold snap in twenty
ten with temperatures below forty degrees killed off many iguanas,

(08:38):
along with Burmese pythons and other invasive pests that thrive
in South Florida's subtropical climate. For a brief moment, it
seemed nature had provided a solution to Florida's invasive species problem,
but the iguanas rebounded. Not only did they recover their numbers,
but Research published in twenty twenty in the journal Biology
Letters found that South Florida lizards are adapted in response

(09:00):
to more frequent extreme climate events. The species is developing
greater tolerance for cold temperatures, potentially allowing them to survive
further north and making future cold snaps less effective as
natural population controls. Spawning a frozen iguana has become a
social media ritual that meteorologists, the Weather Channel, ACU Weather,
and the National Weather Service reference with regularity. Drew Lorris

(09:24):
of Boca Raton told ACI Weather via X after moving
from California. Moved out from California recently, and this wasn't
on my Florida bingo card. Quite a surprise. He later added,
earlier this week, I posted about frozen iguanas falling from
the sky here in Florida. That tweet was intended to
be tongue in cheek. It is very real, and I
hereby apologize to all the frozen iguanas out there. Todd

(09:48):
Boger reported on X during a January twenty twenty two
cold snap. I guess it was called Twitter back then.
Thirty nine degrees and falling iguanas are happening at Fort Lauderdale.
This one was over three feet long. Gilbert to Fort Lauderdale,
posted on Facebook January thirtieth, twenty twenty two. This is
a frozen iguana in Florida, but it's cold. They actually
fall and freeze. I used to think they were dead.

(10:10):
Hashtag frozen iguanas. Estimating Florida's green iguana population remains challenging.
More than seven thousand iguana sidings have been recorded by
the University of Georgia's Early Detection and Distribution Mapping system
since nineteen ninety eight, with most reports coming since twenty twelve.
Current estimates suggest more than twenty thousand green iguanas live

(10:32):
in Florida, though the actual number could be substantially higher.
The species is exceptionally prolific, with females capable of laying
clutches of forty to forty five eggs at a time.
In nineteen ninety five alone, more than one point fourteen
million iguanas were imported into the United States through the
pet trade. While captive bread specimens are available, wild caught

(10:55):
babies continue being shipped in large numbers a significant percentage.
If Florida is free ranging, iguanas likely descended from escaped
or unwanted pets whose owners discovered that cute baby iguanas
grow into large, sometimes aggressive adults. Florida residents have adapted
to their unusual reality. Property owners trim branches away from

(11:15):
structures and make trees more difficult to climb. Professional wildlife
control operators maintain steady business. The state has created programs
allowing the public to remove and humanly kill iguanas from
thirty two commission managed lands without a license or permit.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission maintains detailed resources
at MYFWC dot com, including technical assistance for homeowners and

(11:40):
techniques to discourage iguanas from frequenting your property. For those
who want to remove iguanas but can't do so safely
and humanely themselves, professional help is available. Joe Gonzales from
the Iguana Removal Service Iguana Police, explained to Fox twenty
nine in West Palm Beach, if you capture an iguana
in your own yard and don't move anywhere else, that's fine.

(12:02):
Joe Wazaluski, a conservation biologist and member of the International
Union for a Conservation of Nature's Iguana Specialist Group, told
Patch when it gets cold like this. It's funny to
those who aren't from here to see the news people
talking about iguanas falling from trees, but it can and
will happen. As temperatures continue fluctuating with cold fronts pushing

(12:22):
through Florida, the falling iguana phenomenon shows no signs of stopping.
ACU Weather meteorologist Alex Duffiss noted in a statement, should
the cold wave evolve to its full potential, maximum temperature
departures could plunge thirty to forty degrees fahrenheit below the
historical average from the northern plains and midwest to the
interior southeast. For Florida, that means continued cold snaps and

(12:45):
continued falling iguanas Residents scroll through their weather apps and
see forecasts that would baffle people anywhere else. Temperatures in
the thirties and forties mean more than just frost warnings
and jacket weather. They mean watching the trees for descending
reptile and checking sidewalks before stepping outside. Florida's weather forecasts
now permanently include a category that exists nowhere else. When

(13:08):
temperatures drop, meteorologists issue their warnings about the possibility of
reptile precipitation. Residents know to leave the frozen lizards alone
now and wait for them to thaw and somewhere. A
person who once loaded their car with frozen iguanas shares
their story as a warning to others. The forecast calls
for falling iguanas, and in Florida, that's just another Tuesday

(13:29):
in late fall and winter. If you'd like to read
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you can read it on the Weird Darkness website. I've
placed a link to it in the episode description, and
you can find more stories of the paranormal, true crime, strange,
and more, including numerous stories that never make it to
the podcast in my Weird Darknews blog at Weirddarkness dot
com slash news