Source: Radio New Zealand
Cold-stunned as well as dead green iguanas lie in the back of a pickup truck after being collected by Redline Iguana Removal services during a cold spell on 2 February 2026, in Hollywood, Florida. AFP/JOE RAEDLE
In the US, a winter cold snap blanketing the country has created a new hobby in the usually tropical state of Florida – people there are collecting thousands of frozen iguanas.
Green iguanas were suddenly falling from trees into back gardens, becoming accidental dog toys, freaky fascinations and ice packs.
The reptiles were what locals described as “cold stunned”, not dead.
Iguanas are ectotherms, meaning their internal body temperature is affected by the weather outside.
Blake Wilkins, of Redline Iguana Removal, told the BBC the biggest issue had been the ferocious wind that amplified the cold.
“The ones that seemed to fare the best were that ones that were either in burrows, or under roofs or somehow shielded from the winds.”
Florida, which usually struggled to drop below 20 degrees, had been in single digits, effectively paralysing iguanas.
The reptiles were a pest in southern Florida, Wilkins told the BBC.
With no predators, their numbers had increased exponentially in the ten years he had been in the business.
“They’re able to reproduce extremely fast, they’re excellent diggers. They dig under sea walls causing issues,” he said.
“They get onto roofs, cause damage to them and everyone’s beautiful flowers and landscaping, so it’s a huge problem.”
Blake Wilkins and Andrew Baron, who are Redline Iguana Removal trappers, unload cold-stunned as well as dead green iguanas from the back of a pickup truck after they collected them during a cold spell on 2 February 2026, in Hollywood, Florida. AFP/JOE RAEDLE
One enterprising local took matters into his own hands, introducing lizard as a pizza topping at his restaurant.
A customer called the taste “unbelievable, it’s frog-like – hard to describe”, according to the BBC.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would rather the picked-up iguanas were not made into a meal, but taken to collection points.
It had temporarily allowed people to pick them up without a permit, but warned people to wear protective clothing and secure iguanas in an “escape-proof cloth sack or bag”.
The Commission said members of the public could humanely kill green iguanas year-round on their property or with landowner permission.
Iguana trapper Ryan Izquierdo told the BBC he had never collected so many in a day before.
“We’ve been very careful storing and capturing the animals, ” he said.
“There are videos online of people being super disrespectful of iguanas, and although they’re invasive, they have a beating heart, so you have to respect them.”
Most of the iguanas handed over to authorities would be euthanised, but some of the frozen finds would be able to thaw out through live animal sales, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
But it warned the public against trying to adopt one themselves.
“Iguanas can recover from cold-stunning more quickly than you might expect and, once recovered, can act defensively, with long tails that whip and sharp teeth and claws,” its website said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
