If you live in South Florida, you know that the area has a pretty big iguana problem.
And this time of year is the reptile’s breeding season, when females lay their eggs. Generally, the females dig egg chambers that contain interconnected tunnels and multiple entrances. But lately, the reptiles seem to have become more creative about where they do this business.
Nonetheless, the employees of a Miami resort were still surprised to find more than a dozen eggs at the bottom of their water slide as well as in the swimming pool.
The pool operators called Michael Ronquillo, owner of Humane Iguana Control, to help.
He said it’s not every day that he gets a call like this, so he rushed over to see what he could do.
Ronquillo found the iguana had tried to hide herself in a jet of the slide. But upon his arrival, the iguana made a hasty escape.
“You know, we actually looked for the iguana, but it was nowhere to be found, so it booked it and disappeared, pretty much,” he said.
He used an endoscopy camera to look inside the jets to ensure no other lizards were left behind.
Ronquillo said finding the eggs in the water was a new one for him.
“The eggs, we really have no idea how they ended up there,” Ronquillo said. “Our guess is the iguana laid them around the slide area, and the eggs just rolled down from the slide, so that’s pretty much how they ended up in that area. Iguanas this time of year — you’re going to find them in various spots just laying eggs. Typically, they lay eggs in burrows. We get calls all the time about iguanas laying eggs in random places, around homes, businesses, and schools as well.”
Green iguanas have become a big problem for south Florida, where the non-native lizards find the weather generally comfortable. The iguanas were originally from South America and were first reported in Florida in the 1960s. Since then, the lizards, which can live up to 20 years, have flourished in south Florida, and their population has exploded: Females reach reproductive maturity at two years, and they can lay more than 70 eggs at a time. They are considered an invasive species due to their impacts on native wildlife. For this reason, they are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty laws and can be captured year-round and humanely killed without a permit or license.
Caution is needed when attempting to capture the lizards. Males can grow to more than five feet in length. Ronquillo said the lizards carry ticks, mites, and salmonella. But a big danger in trying to capture them is that they will fight back.
“Directly addressing iguanas can pose bodily harm and health risks due to their sharp nails, teeth, and tail whips reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour,' Ronquillo said.
Photo credit: Florida Humane Iguana Control.
