ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Augustine woman had an unwelcome visitor stop by her home this weekend — a little green iguana.
The reptiles are not native to Florida and are considered an invasive species. Florida Fish and Wildlife recommends green iguanas be humanely killed for that reason.
Tory Crawford wrote to News4JAX after she spotted the iguana hanging out on the front lawn.
“We ran over there to go see what it was and immediately I was like, that is an iguana,” Crawford said. “You could tell by the tail, by the color, and compared to like the regular lizards we have out here, it was much bigger.”
We showed her photo to John Brueggen, the director of the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. He confirmed it was a green iguana.
“The only logical explanation for that is to have come in on a group of plants. You know, somebody shipped plants from South Florida and didn’t notice they were there. Or somebody had a pet lizard and it got away or got released,” Brueggen said.
The advice straight from Florida Fish and Wildlife’s website is to kill the iguana but that didn’t sit right with Tory who said she just left the iguana alone.
“They were advising people to unalive them, which was that was his words, to unalive it. And we were like, oh, no,” Crawford said. “I definitely did not want to do that. I was not going to go find it with the intent to kill it.”
Brueggen said green iguanas have been in Florida for a really long time because of the pet trade. People could legally buy the lizards to keep as pets.
“If they got out of their cage, or people got tired of them and released them, they established a pretty good population in South Florida,” Brueggen said.
South Florida is bustling with green iguanas. The males can grow as big as five feet and weigh nearly 20 pounds. Brueggen said he’s not concerned about a similar invasion happening here in Northeast Florida.
“In South Florida, when it gets below 50 degrees iguanas fall out of the tree. That’s too cold for them, and they usually will perk up and be all right, but with the weather we get up here, it would absolutely kill them. So the weather’s completely a limiting factor for them to be around here,” Brueggen said. “People don’t need to be afraid of it, and we’re not, because we saw one in St. Augustine. We’re not being inundated with green iguanas.”
Brueggen said he also wouldn’t be thrilled to see the animal get killed. The lizards don’t bite or chase people and won’t hurt you. The biggest cause of frustration in South Florida is that they eat up people’s plants. Brueggen said they particularly love hibiscus flowers.
News4JAX reached out to Florida Fish and Wildlife for comment on this story. We asked if FWC has received similar reports in our area or if this was an isolated incident. You can view the statement provided below.
Maps showing public reports of green iguanas or other iguana species can be found at Eddmaps.org. Green iguanas are considered established in some areas, with populations found along the Atlantic Coast in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties and along the Gulf Coast in Collier and Lee Counties. There have also been reports from as far north as Alachua, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, and St. Lucie Counties. However, individuals observed in more northern counties are likely escaped or released captive animals.
Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are large nonnative, invasive lizards that can reach over 4 feet in length. Iguanas, like all nonnative, invasive species, are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law (Florida Statutes § 828.12). They can be captured and killed on private property at any time with landowner permission. It is illegal to release or relocate captured iguanas (Rule 68-5.001, Florida Administrative Code). The FWC encourages the humane killing of iguanas; however, landowners are not required to remove iguanas from their property.
Once established in the wild, nonnative species can become invasive (e.g., Burmese pythons), meaning they negatively impact native ecosystems, the economy (e.g., property damage), or human health and safety.
Kristen Turner, FWC Public Information Director
Sightings of nonnative species can be reported here: IveGot1.org and via the IveGot1 app
Learn more about iguanas here: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/green-iguana/
How to deter and remove iguanas: https://myfwc.com/media/3womoike/iguana-presentation.pdf
Maps showing public reports of green iguanas: Eddmaps.org