Overview
- FWC reported about 600 iguanas surrendered Sunday and hundreds more Monday at designated locations in Marathon, Sunrise, Tequesta, Fort Myers and Lakeland.
- Private trappers logged exceptionally large hauls, with one operator reporting roughly 2,500 collected over the two-day span.
- The freeze sent green iguanas into torpor, causing them to fall from trees across South Florida and making them unusually easy to capture.
- Collectors were required to use breathable cloth sacks placed inside secondary locked containers, and the agency warned against warming iguanas indoors or transporting them loosely in vehicles.
- With the waiver concluded, standard permit rules resume as FWC processes surrendered animals and stresses that the invasive lizards damage landscaping and canal banks and can carry salmonella and ticks.