Cold Snap in Florida causing Iguanas to fall from Trees

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15 Feb Posted by Lesley Smitheringale in Wildlife | Comments

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Daily Sun/Francesca von Rabenau O’Reilly

Freeze warnings covered nearly all of Florida with temperatures expected to drop into the 20s. Iguanas were seen falling out of trees; experts say the cold-blooded reptiles become immobilized and lose their grip when the temperature falls into the 40s or below.

How cold is it in Florida? Cold enough for frozen iguanas to be falling out of trees.

The iguanas, paralyzed by the cold, were spotted in ‘frozen’ condition, clinging from trees or stuck to the ground, according to reports from the so-called Sunshine State, where temperatures have plummeted to the 20s in the past few days.

It was ‘balmier’ in South Florida, where the thermometer registered in the 30s. At 7 a.m. Wednesday the temperature climbed to 40 degrees in Miami and 38 degrees in Fort Lauderdale, according to the Miami Herald. The record number of consecutive days when the thermometer stayed below 50 degrees in Miami occurred in early 1940. It was 13 straight days. In Fort Lauderdale, the record was set in January 1956 when it remained under 50 degrees for 12 straight days.

It’s six days and counting this year for Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the Herald noted. As for the iguanas, once temperature drops into the 40s they shut down with very little blood flow, only their heart beating, according to Ron Magill of Miami Metrozoo. ‘It’s almost like they go totally to sleep,’ he told a Miami television station. ‘Once warmed, the iguanas often quickly spring back to life,’ said Magill, who warned about picking up the frozen creatures. He said ‘a man who picked them up from the sidewalk and put them in the back of his car was surprised when they suddenly started coming back to life, crawled on his back and almost caused him to wreck his car. Generally speaking, if it warms up afterwards, the iguanas can recover,’ Magill said. But he added that a long cold snap could kill them.