Florida Fish and Wildlife 'Encourages' Residents to Kill Iguanas They Find on Their Property

Kelli Bender
The FWC lists the green iguana as an invasive species in Florida

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) isn’t interested in conserving the green iguana population in the Sunshine State.

Green Iguanas are listed as an invasive species on the FWC’s website.

“Green iguanas are not native to Florida and are considered to be an invasive species due to the damage they can cause to seawalls, sidewalks, and landscape plants,” the site reads.

One of the ways the FWC is stopping these pesky lizards is by putting a target on their backs.

“Homeowners do not need a permit to kill iguanas on their own property, and the FWC encourages homeowners to kill green iguanas on their own property whenever possible. Iguanas can also be killed year-round and without a permit on 22 public lands in south Florida,” the FWC adds.

According to ABC News, the green iguana population in Florida is booming, and is growing bigger by the day due to the welcoming warm weather found across the state.

“They will destroy agriculture, undermine roads, cause electrical transformers to fail, they can transmit salmonella and can be a FAA safety hazard,” Joseph Wasilewski, a scientist at the University of Florida who study wildlife in Florida, told the outlet about the pains iguanas, animals that can lay up to 76 eggs a year, cause the state of Florida.

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The FWC believes green iguanas arrived in Florida in the 1960s from Central and South America, and quickly spread to the warmest parts of the state, since the animals aren’t “cold hardy.”

Despite their name, green iguanas can also be brown or black, and sometimes turn an orange color during certain part of the years. The reptiles can grow to be 5 feet in length.

For those who can’t bring themselves to lethally dispatch an iguana from their property, the FWC recommends removing plants that act as attractants to iguanas, filling in holes to discourage burrowing, hanging wind chimes or other items that make intermittent noises, and hanging CDs that have reflective surfaces to deter the lizards from hanging out on their properties.