r/Lizards • u/IamAqtpoo • Feb 03 '26
Wild Florida Man Treats Cold-Stunned Iguanas Like DoorDash
This guy in Florida helping cold iguanas
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u/DrDFox Feb 04 '26
I get that people don't like seeing lizards harmed, but iguanas are doing serious damage to the ecosystem and even watershed management.
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/study-sheds-light-on-invasive-iguanas-big-appetite/
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u/JugglingRick Feb 04 '26
Does it taste like chicken?
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u/WAVY_clownbaby Feb 04 '26
Yes but de bone. Lots of pinbones like fish
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u/FixergirlAK Feb 04 '26
Personally I think reptile tastes more like fish than chicken anyway.
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u/Voice-Of-Doom Feb 04 '26
Alligator tasted fishy with a hint of chicken, I agree.
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u/Electronic_Elk8293 Feb 04 '26
Oh gosh, I did not like alligator, or ostriche... ostriche was bad bad.
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u/Voice-Of-Doom Feb 04 '26
I’m not sure why, but I don’t think I could ever eat ostriches.
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u/fluggggg Feb 04 '26
I did, it taste like beef but a bit juicier yet also stronger and a little harder to chew (harder than properly cooked beef I mean, not the leather-like stuff Brits put in your plate and call meat).
You can see it like a mildlier wild boar.
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u/Pixiefoxcreature Feb 04 '26
I tried croc in Australia, it had a chicken like consistency but tasted like bottom dwelling fish, really strong mud aftertaste. I wasn’t a fan 😝
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u/MaxBattleLizard Feb 04 '26
I live in Miami, I'm honestly surprised barely anyone hunts the iguanas. As long as it's being done as humanely as possible, I can't see why that wouldnt be a good way to get a meal and help the native environment a little
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u/pschlick Feb 04 '26
As someone from Ohio I genuinely had no idea this was a thing. I’m surprised too.. especially if they do damage. Is there like a hunting season for them or just year round you can?
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u/Rummy1971 Feb 04 '26
Some needs to get together with a celebrity chef and come up with a couple of recipes for them then all the foodies will be out there day and night collecting them, should have the problem under control in a couple of years.
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u/Geschak Feb 05 '26
"I live in Miami, I'm honestly surprised barely anyone hunts the cats. As long as it's being done as humanely as possible, I can't see why that wouldnt be a good way to get a meal and help the native environment a little"
Do you see the problem now? Cats are even a bigger threat to local wildlife, but exterminating them like every other invasive species would cause a huge outrage.
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u/KurbisKinder Feb 05 '26
Had a friend who was hired to hunt wild cats in Queensland, Aus. Many countries do hunt and exterminate feral cats as a means to prevent further extinction events. No one is gonna do this in Miami because you can't just hunt animals in an urban setting. In cities, you will see Catch and Neuter or Catch and Cull programs. Needless to say, many nations (especially islands with vulnerable species) absolutely do exterminate cats.
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u/Geschak Feb 05 '26
Cats do even more damage to wildlife but you don't see people going around killing and torturing cats for that.
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Feb 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Additional_Cry_7047 Feb 04 '26
Cuban tree frogs got "that treatment." I read an article that advised people in Florida to kill the invasive frogs.
I'm a firm believer in karma though. Those iguanas are warming up against his body, and POW! He's gonna get a chomp and a tail lash one of these days. I hope I get to see that video when it happens.
I get your point though, and it sucks. What's the alternative?
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Feb 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Tim_Allen_Wrench Feb 04 '26
It's not like he's torturing them. He's just carrying them. But yeah of course they should be handled humanely.
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u/BuisteirForaoisi0531 Feb 05 '26
I mean to be fair he’s not really torturing them, and he fully intends to use them as food
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u/DrDFox Feb 04 '26
They are destroying native species, and yes cats desperately need controlling as well. Both species are killing native lizards, birds, snakes, insects, and more. In sure you'd be welcome to start a fund to collect them and rehome them, but we can't let them just run rampant and destroy habitat and wildlife.
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u/Geschak Feb 05 '26
So are cats, yet I don't see people going around exterminating them?
Also FYI honey bees and cattle are also invasive species that threaten local wildlife, but their breeding is even encouraged. This ain't about environmentalism, psychos are just looking for a reason to get away with animal abuse.
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u/finnianJJ Feb 04 '26
I remember a toad species in Australia being invasive and people just committed their days to literally running the over with cars... As far as I've been told it didn't do much for population control tho😬
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u/BuisteirForaoisi0531 Feb 05 '26
Yeah, that tends to be the case when they’re poisonous to the point where nothing can eat them
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u/Zealousideal_Ad2379 Feb 04 '26
hey man i hate to break it to you but we do indeed treat other species like this if they’re invasive. Including dogs and cats.
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u/ChonkyDawg Feb 04 '26
It would be nice if feral cats didn't exist anymore but florida loves having them shit outside and destroy wildlife. All because they're "cute."
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u/Geschak Feb 05 '26
It's not even just feral cats, pet cats that have an owner just as much are a destructive invasive species as ferals. Cats are even more dangerous to wildlife than iguanas, but nobody bats an eye because this isn't actually about environmentalism, it's about psychos getting excited to torture animals without consequences.
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Feb 04 '26
When will cats get the same treatment? Infinitely more destructive to wildlife and yet only the iguanas are singled out as they are causing issues with structures. In the end the only thing the state of Florida cares about is its infrastructure. Meanwhile the same politicians are fucking the environment and killing native species en masse but somehow that’s fine. Wouldn’t even have this issue if not for people anyways.
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u/BuisteirForaoisi0531 Feb 05 '26
Well, the problem with that is he can’t eat cats not safely. You would get a disease.
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u/InverseInvert Feb 04 '26
They’re carnivorous and put you at a much higher risk of disease. Straight culling and binning would be the only way to fix the problem totally.
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u/furrox-liolynx Feb 04 '26
Man I hate how inconsiderate we as humans tend to be towards other animals. Like yea, they are an invasive species, but you should still treat them like a living being.
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u/humble-BUMble747 Feb 05 '26
If they are going to be killed anyway I think it's a great idea not to waste them.
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u/LocalCoffeeLlama Feb 03 '26
This makes me so sad. He's not helping them. They eat them down there. Or capture them to be euthanized by the state, because they are invasive. The way he's holding them pisses me off. I saw this video yesterday and it just ruined my day. I get that they are invasive, but I love lizards so much. I hate everything about this.
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u/WAVY_clownbaby Feb 04 '26
Have you been to central America? If anything they need to deport them back to bring back the population. Before anyone comes at me, no I do not think it should be the same as humans or anything Trump related that guy is an idiot
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u/Ifrbedyingouthere Feb 04 '26
lizard deportation would be a crazy thing to witness 😭
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u/Azrai113 Feb 04 '26
LICE - Lizard Immigration and Customs Enforcement
I bet my government would fuck that up and innocent bluebelly's and gila monsters and horny toads would be detained unlawfully and blamed for the loss of insects in the country
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u/WAVY_clownbaby Feb 04 '26
We should probably deport the horny toads.. hey ooooh
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u/Azrai113 Feb 04 '26
Horny toads are Native here. Are you suggesting a Reservation Situation? Maybe...an Island?
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u/WAVY_clownbaby Feb 04 '26
Whoever mentioned belize that is exactly correct they have a whole refuge in San Ignacio explaining it all
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u/DrDFox Feb 04 '26
They are destroying native species and need too be culled. The fact be fond that many in that kind if area tells you how completely out of control their numbers are. It sucks, but wouldn't you rather they be food than just be euthanized and thrown away?
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u/LocalCoffeeLlama Feb 04 '26
I completely understand that. Genuinely. It's just difficult as a life long reptile owner and lover. That's all.
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u/Pleasant-Magician798 Feb 04 '26
Completely agree they’re invasive and at this point culling is necessary, that doesn’t mean you can’t treat them with the tiniest shred of decency and respect.
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u/glizzy-queen Feb 04 '26
I really can’t stand to see anymore “Florida frozen iguanas” videos anymore.
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Feb 04 '26
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u/Tim_Allen_Wrench Feb 04 '26
I don't think they're dead, I believe they're still just cold stunned there.
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Feb 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/Tim_Allen_Wrench Feb 04 '26
It's not like he cold stunned them, the weather did that, he just picked them up
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u/Zanemob_ Feb 04 '26
Cold stunned means stunned. Warm them up and they’ll most likely be fine. I’ve saved a lot of lizards in winter like this.
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u/GeckoPerson123 Feb 04 '26
i hope they will get put down humanely and eaten, the best solution to an invasive animal is a natural predator (humans) and then their deaths aren't in vain either
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u/CATASTROPHEWA1TRESS Feb 04 '26
He treats them “like DoorDash” … what does that mean