Its Raining Frozen Iguanas in Florida

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by Orleander, Jan 4, 2008.

  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    How cold would it have to be for them to die? And anyone here ever sen anything like this? And am I the only one who thinks its hilarious?

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    Cold Snap Causes Frozen Iguana Shower

    KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Wednesday night's bitter cold temperatures rattled tree-dwelling iguanas in South Florida.

    The large green reptiles drop out of the trees and litter the ground when temperatures drop in sunny South Florida.

    The lizards are not dead. Most of them are alive and are simply cold. When the weather returns to the warmth they know and love, they will spring back to life.

    "It is as if they are in suspended animation," said Robert Yero, park manager at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.

    At Bill Baggs park on Thursday, it was raining iguanas.

    The critters could be found underneath buttonwood trees and beneath a sea grape.

    "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.''

    The iguanas are exotics from Central and South America. Most of them were house pets at one point, and then released into the wild by their owners when they got too big.

    In their new home in the wild of South Florida, they feed on vegetation.

    ''They really are taking over,'' Yero said.
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    There's a very big problem with those things. They aren't indigenous to Florida and they eat everything because they are one of the top carnivores here now. They eat bird eggs, squirrels and many other wild game that already is going extinct because of human encroachment. They breed like rabbits and live long lives. They hunt in packs at times and have been known , when full grown, to attack people as well. They should have started to remove them long ago but they just haven't done anything but let them proliferate and cause havoc in the natural order of things.
     
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  5. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    iguanas eat plants i think your thinking of the nile monitors
     
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  7. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Iguanas?? Attacking people?!?!?!? Please show some evidence of this!
     
  8. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    well during mating season they tend to get quite frisky and agressive but i think the person was refering to the nile monitors that live in florida attacking people
     
  9. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    You've got to be right. There's a HUGE difference between them and iguanas - both in temperment and SIZE! I suppose I can possibly imagine there being some people who think they're the same animal just grown up. :shrug:
     
  10. invert_nexus Ze do caixao Valued Senior Member

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    Iguanas can be quite aggressive, actually. They can snap you with their tails which hurts quite a bit.

    Now, it's not the sort of attack that leads to death or even serious injury. But it is an attack. And it does hurt.
     
  11. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Yep, I know - had a couple of them over the years. While that's true, it's nothing like being bitten by a six-foot-long monster!
     
  12. mikenostic Stop pretending you're smart! Registered Senior Member

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    That's exactly what the male iguana at the pet store I go to does to me through his little glass cage. It's quite funny though. Including tail, he looks to be around 2 feet long or so.
    The iguana's temperament was what caused me to choose a bearded dragon instead. Does it ever rain those when it gets cold in FL?
     
  13. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    If You Get Bitten
    If you do get bitten, don't jerk your hand away (if you can!), and absolutely do not put him down! If you do you will have reinforced that behavior. Just get someplace where the blood won't ruin anything, go through your "Baaaad lizard!" routine, and keep holding him for at least a minute or two before putting him down. This tends to freak out friends who may be around when this happens, but you can deal with them (after you take care of the ig and yourself! This may all sound facetious but it works like a charm on most iguanas who have decided to try a bite to dissuade you.


    http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/breedingaggression.html



    Some of the large adult iguanas will at some point, whether it's at 2 years old on up to 12 years old, get into a mood, whether it's a momentary thing or something that lasts for up to a year or longer, get fully worked up and enraged, in exactly the manner they would when encountering another male iguana, and they will lash out toward a human with all the intensity they would toward another male iguana. The large adult male iguanas, once fully
    enraged, exhibiting body language or signs of standing up, puffing up, stalking, sideways shuffle with tail wiggling, dewlap out, etc.etc., can suddenly leap, charge or lunge at a person. Large adult size male iguanas can inflict truly serious deep flesh wounds, can tear off sections of facial lips, nose, ear, fingers, etc., can chop open the skin anywhere they come in contact, can cause massive bleeding to a human, can and will continue to inflict more deep flesh wounds if the human continues to confront or be available in the iguana's range.


    http://www.todaysplanet.com/pg/beta/lizardlover/page6.htm
     
  14. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Usually a cold front is preceded by some rainfall from time to time but it isn't like the heavy rain we get during the summertime.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    so no one has seen these things falling out of a tree?
     
  16. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Only when they are shot down!

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  17. Spud Emperor solanaceous common tater Registered Senior Member

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    No but I have seen a massive goanna ( monitor ) fall from a tree.
    When scared, they climb rapidly up the nearest tree in a swimming motion and have sharp claws for this purpose. This paticular tree was very smooth barked and the goanna lost its grip and plummeted to earth. Unfazed, it galloped straight back up again.
     
  18. mikenostic Stop pretending you're smart! Registered Senior Member

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    No no. I meant, does it rain those when it gets cold in FL? Those meaning bearded dragons.
    Since most of the iguanas down there seem to be released pets, I figured there were probably some bearded dragons out in the wild too.
     
  19. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    I personally have never seen anything of the sort. That doesn't mean it isn't or doesn't happen for I'm sure it does somewhere, sometimes.
     
  20. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    How cold would it have to be to kill them?
     
  21. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Well with a gun any temperature is jus fine!

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