The invasion of the iguanas

[F4Gary]

So how are all you south Floridians coping with all the iguanas down there now?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/fl-reg-south-florida-iguana-invasive-damage-20180618-story.html

 

[NoleFan2U]

Taste like chicken!


Side note:
It is legal to shoot iguanas in the head with a pellet gun, stab them in the brain and even decapitate them as long as they don’t suffer, according to state law. University of Florida researches say bashing in an iguana’s head and destroying its brain quickly is the most humane way to kill one.

Umm....sounds humane

 

[NDallasRuss]

The good news is that the iguana infestation should be resolved once the pythons complete their takeover.

 

[ericram]

I am pretty sure I saw a Simpson's episode about this.

 

[SeaPA]

I've eaten iguana a few times on scuba diving trips to Roatan; cooked right, it is pretty dang good. I could probably bring up a bunch of islanders & they'd catch 'em, clean 'em, and cook 'em. Just need someone to bring the beer & it would be a great party.

 

[seminoledq]

Taste like chicken!


Side note:
It is legal to shoot iguanas in the head with a pellet gun, stab them in the brain and even decapitate them as long as they don’t suffer, according to state law. University of Florida researches say bashing in an iguana’s head and destroying its brain quickly is the most humane way to kill one.

Umm....sounds humane

So iguanas = zombies?

 

[Nole Daddy]

Kill them.

 

[Nole Daddy]

These things are a serious problem and they need to be killed. A lot of people have a problem saying that but I don’t.

 

[noleit]

They are delicious. Make them illegal, create a black market and you'll soon see a lot less of them.

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

They are delicious. Make them illegal, create a black market and you'll soon see a lot less of them.

Very true. I’m surprised with the amount of South Floridians from countries that eat them that they’re still a problem.

 

[seminole97]

Very true. I’m surprised with the amount of South Floridians from countries that eat them that they’re still a problem.

Probably not many Walmarts with rotisserie chicken dispensers in the 'countries that eat them'.

 

[MIKE_G]

The last few times I've been to S. Florida where I lived from '83-'95, I've noticed not iguanas, but huge lizards with curly tails everywhere. They seem to have mostly replaced the little lizards that were ubiquitous when I lived there. I still see a few of those, but not nearly as many. I assume these big mothers have crowded the little ones out. I swear I saw these big ones running across the street upright on just their back legs too. What's up with that? This is in Coconut Creek, North Broward County.

 

[cmanole]

The good news is that the iguana infestation should be resolved once the pythons complete their takeover.

The killer bees, snakeheads and lion fish have something to say about that!

 

[DFSNOLE]

The last few times I've been to S. Florida where I lived from '83-'95, I've noticed not iguanas, but huge lizards with curly tails everywhere. They seem to have mostly replaced the little lizards that were ubiquitous when I lived there. I still see a few of those, but not nearly as many. I assume these big mothers have crowded the little ones out. I swear I saw these big ones running across the street upright on just their back legs too. What's up with that? This is in Coconut Creek, North Broward County.

They were imported from outside the country in the eighties probably in some crates of fruit. I built a porch off my house in West Palm around 1985. I put lattice around the bottom of it to keep the neighborhood cats out but what it ended up doing was create a sanctuary for the curly tails. We had some monsters under there.

 

[MIKE_G]

They were imported from outside the country in the eighties probably in some crates of fruit. I built a porch off my house in West Palm around 1985. I put lattice around the bottom of it to keep the neighborhood cats out but what it ended up doing was create a sanctuary for the curly tails. We had some monsters under there.

So they’ve been around that long? I don’t remember seeing them until the last few years. Maybe it took a while for them to make it to where my parents live. They’re pretty cool to see, but I guess they can be a problem?

 

[FreeFlyNole]

They are all over the keys. When I go down to my buddies house, I'll shoot them with an air rifle from the porch. I think there is a bounty on them in a couple of counties.

I've eaten them in Central America, they taste pretty good. I guess if you fry anything it tastes good.

 

[Nole Daddy]

The local news had a story on them yesterday. Somehow they can get in the cracks in the sea walls and destroy them. They also kill native animals. Let people know it is open season on them and kill them off.

 

[cmanole]

The local news had a story on them yesterday. Somehow they can get in the cracks in the sea walls and destroy them. They also kill native animals. Let people know it is open season on them and kill them off.

I say let them live. Survival of the fittest and all. American animals are soft now days...

 

[Nole Daddy]

I say let them live. Survival of the fittest and all. American animals are soft now days...

Survival of the fittest. Let then humans take them out.

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

I say let them live. Survival of the fittest and all. American animals are soft now days...

No, absolutely not! We need to build a wall and make Belize pay for it. They’re not sending their best iguanas to South Florida, just drugdealers and rapists. Although some, I assume are fine lizards.

And if we let them have anchor kids here? By Jebus they will infest the whole state!

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

They were imported from outside the country in the eighties probably in some crates of fruit. I built a porch off my house in West Palm around 1985. I put lattice around the bottom of it to keep the neighborhood cats out but what it ended up doing was create a sanctuary for the curly tails. We had some monsters under there.

Per Florida Fish and Wildlife one species was introduced on purpose in the 40s by the state to help with insect control on farms. But two other species of curly tails have since been introduced unofficially and now have breeding populations. I will say it was odd when I saw the first full size Tegu (up to 5 feet long and weighing 35 pounds or more) running around Ft Lauderdale. I was even adjusted to seeing iguanas by then (although I remember the first time I saw a full size iguana sitting outside an Eckerds or Walgreens in Miami as a kid).

 

[NDallasRuss]

The killer bees, snakeheads and lion fish have something to say about that!

What we need is an invasive species Battle Royale.

My money's on the snakeheads. They seem like they can adapt to any environment, think strategically, and use advanced weapons.

 

[ericram]

Do we ever export any invasive creatures or plants? From damn love bugs, Iguanas, kudzu, and now some Japanese thorny-ass vines the United States seems to get the worst of these invasive species. We need to find something and export to say China.

 

[Nole Daddy]

They were imported from outside the country in the eighties probably in some crates of fruit. I built a porch off my house in West Palm around 1985. I put lattice around the bottom of it to keep the neighborhood cats out but what it ended up doing was create a sanctuary for the curly tails. We had some monsters under there.

DFS, they have been in West Palm for many years. My dad said the first saw them at St Juliana’s Catholic Church when he was a teenager. Maybe younger. Curly tail lizards are everywhere in Wellington now, and I don’t want the iguanas to take over here. I know it will happen, but I will have a bunch of kills under my belt.

 

[cmanole]

What we need is an invasive species Battle Royale.

My money's on the snakeheads. They seem like they can adapt to any environment, think strategically, and use advanced weapons.

Yeah, they can even walk on land too. But don't sell the lionfish short either. As ocean levels rise and inundate Florida, there is sure to be an epic clash...

 

[seminoledq]

The local news had a story on them yesterday. Somehow they can get in the cracks in the sea walls and destroy them. They also kill native animals. Let people know it is open season on them and kill them off.

What native animals are they killing? I thought iguanas were vegetarians.

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

What native animals are they killing? I thought iguanas were vegetarians.

Indirectly killing, they outcompete other native animals who want to eat the same thing. For example.

“In the Florida Keys, iguanas ate up the host plant for the endangered Miami blue butterfly in Bahia Honda State Park. Nearly 600 iguanas have been removed from the park in the last two fiscal years, according to Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, but the quarter-sized butterflies haven't been found since.”

So RIP

You were taken out by these evil illegal immigrants

 

[Nole Daddy]

What native animals are they killing? I thought iguanas were vegetarians.

They eat a bunch of vegetation, but also eat bird eggs and some smaller animals and reptiles.

 

[F4Gary]

So why doesn't Florida put a bounty on all these invasive species? Or have they?
Seems like monetizing the eradication would help a lot.

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

So why doesn't Florida put a bounty on all these invasive species? Or have they?
Seems like monetizing the eradication would help a lot.

The Caymans had an eradication program against the green iguanas as they were pushing out the endangered native blue iguanas but their program was a bust because while they killed a lot of iguanas the females lay between 20-70 eggs at a time. And they are sexually mature after about two years of age. So without a natural predator they’re basically unstoppable.

 

[cmanole]

Y'all are all missing the point. This is a whole new food source. Wouldn't you love to go to a restaurant that serves green iguana, lionfish, annaconda and snakehead? If Publix sold this stuff for 8.99 a pound and put it on Bogo once a month, soon enough they'd all become endangered species...

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

Y'all are all missing the point. This is a whole new food source. Wouldn't you love to go to a restaurant that serves green iguana, lionfish, annaconda and snakehead? If Publix sold this stuff for 8.99 a pound and put it on Bogo once a month, soon enough they'd all become endangered species...

Very true. I’ve had all four (kinda, I’ve had python not technically anaconda but I imagine they taste similar) and they are perfectly edible. The problem is that Florida does NOT allow land based game to be used in restaurants. The place I went to in Ft Myers that made the “Everglades pizza” with frog legs, Gator and python had to import python meat from farms in Vietnam rather than use the locally killed pythons. So we’ll need to change the law to allow land based game meat to be legal in Florida restaurants and grocery stores. Now as far as lion fish and snakehead, Florida allows wildcaught seafood so there’s no problem there and in fact Southern Seafood in Tally frequently carries lionfish.

 

[Nole Daddy]

@DFSNOLE you should see Lake Clark Shores now. They are everywhere and have taken it over( Iguanas)

 

[cmanole]

Very true. I’ve had all four (kinda, I’ve had python not technically anaconda but I imagine they taste similar) and they are perfectly edible. The problem is that Florida does NOT allow land based game to be used in restaurants. The place I went to in Ft Myers that made the “Everglades pizza” with frog legs, Gator and python had to import python meat from farms in Vietnam rather than use the locally killed pythons. So we’ll need to change the law to allow land based game meat to be legal in Florida restaurants and grocery stores. Now as far as lion fish and snakehead, Florida allows wildcaught seafood so there’s no problem there and in fact Southern Seafood in Tally frequently carries lionfish.

MFGA...

 

[SeaPA]

Lionfish is excellent eating, evrn better than iquana

 

[cmanole]

Y'all aren't giving any run to the abundance of nonnative parrots here in Florida. God knows how many species are out there. Can we put them on the menu too?

 

[MIKE_G]

Technically pigs, horses, cats, dogs, cows, and lots of other animals are non-native. I say just shoot anything that moves.

 

[Nole Daddy]

Lionfish is excellent eating, evrn better than iquana

I have not had it but it is supposed to be great.

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

I have not had it but it is supposed to be great.

It’s a mild white fish that has a buttery flavor as it’s filled with fat. There’s not really a commonly available fish in the grocery store I would compare it to as most of the white meat fish sold there are very lean. But it’s definitely similar in flavor and texture to Atlantic Spadefish, monkfish and to a lesser extent pompano/permit. I’d also compare it to nonFlorida fish like farmed walleye and farmed barramundi. If you haven’t had that, just imagine a firm and flaky nonfishy fish with a high fat count so it’s got extra “butteriness”.

Due to the extra fat I don’t think it fries well with a thick batter, but pan fried in a thin coat of flour and/or corn or sweet potato starch it works well. And any baked, grilled or soup preparation works fantastic as well. It especially takes well to being blackened.

 

[DFSNOLE]

@DFSNOLE you should see Lake Clark Shores now. They are everywhere and have taken it over( Iguanas)

I believe it.