{"id":3099,"date":"2026-06-06T16:05:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3099"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:05:55","slug":"iguanas-bounce-back-in-south-florida-after-february-freeze-wiped-out-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3099","title":{"rendered":"Iguanas bounce back in South Florida after February freeze wiped out thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michele Holtfreter planted fresh pentas in her yard this spring \u2014 only to find an iguana was tearing into her blossoms.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter they started flowering, there was a big green iguana hanging around my palm tree,\u201d recalled Holtfreter, of Deerfield Beach.\u00a0\u201cNext thing I know, the tops of the pentas are being chewed off.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was too late for her to intervene. The purselanes she planted in the backyard faced the same fate.<\/p>\n

Iguanas have been making a comeback in South Florida \u2014 in residents\u2019 backyards, near sidewalks and along canal banks \u2014 months after many of them were wiped out in a freeze. Thousands of the lizards were captured during a cold snap in February, leading to weeks of fewer sightings.<\/p>\n

But iguana-removal companies say they\u2019ve been receiving more calls in recent weeks about the invasive lizards. They expect the upcoming hatching season to reverse any downturn and help the lizard species keep thriving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like the iguanas took a 30-day sabbatical\u201d earlier this year before they bounced back, said Pierce Kennamer, president of IggyTrap, an iguana-removal company.<\/p>\n

For Jessica Kilgore, owner of Iguana Solutions, the impact from the freeze was more drawn out. Kilgore is usually so inundated with calls in March that she starts a waiting list for customers. This year, she \u201cgot very few calls until about two to three weeks ago,\u201d when requests started picking back up.<\/p>\n

Steve Kavarshansky, owner of Iguana Busters, also noticed there were fewer iguanas earlier this year. He said his company similarly saw fewer calls after the freeze.<\/p>\n

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Kilgore says that the freeze roundup likely \u201cput a decent dent into the population,\u201d though there is no complete count of the actual number of iguanas captured.<\/p>\n

In February, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced 5,195 dead or frozen iguanas were turned in at drop-off sites.\u00a0At the time, at least 8,000 iguanas overall were collected by the commission and private operators.<\/p>\n

But any estimate of their numbers \u201cis likely to be incorrect,\u201d said Frank Mazzotti, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida. He added that \u201cthere\u2019s been no systematic monitoring of iguanas post-freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n

The short-term impact of the freeze is also difficult to calculate, Mazzotti said, because \u201cthere is no way to estimate the population size\u201d of all green iguanas in South Florida.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe do not have a current population estimate of wild green iguanas in Florida,\u201d the wildlife commission wrote in an email to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. They added that they were not aware of any accurate data detailing the impact of the cold snap in February.<\/p>\n

With hatching season on the horizon, trappers expect the apparent decline in iguanas to be reversed.<\/p>\n

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The reptile\u2019s primary hatching season starts in June and peaks in July, according to two of the trappers. On average, female iguanas lay between 14 and 71 eggs per season, meaning a normal hatching season would compensate for the decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever reduction that occurs is only gonna be temporary,\u201d Mazzotti said. \u201cIt\u2019s not likely that any long-term effect occurred in terms of reducing the population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Portuallo, founder and owner of Iguana Control, anticipates regrowth as well.<\/p>\n

Like the other trappers, his business saw a lull after the freeze. Though his company usually sees 30% annual revenue growth, this year they have seen only 15% to 17%, indicating a \u201csevere reduction\u201d in the population this February.<\/p>\n

Though the freeze \u201cmay have slowed the trajectory slightly,\u201d Portuallo said, the population will probably return to last year\u2019s size by the end of hatching season.<\/p>\n

In Kavarshansky\u2019s assessment, the population has already rebounded \u201cstronger than ever,\u201d with his business only seeing a slight downturn when compared to last May.<\/p>\n

An increase in sightings and upturn in business in the last few weeks also may have more to do with warming weather than a shift in population size.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the warmer months, you\u2019re gonna see heightened iguana activity,\u201d Kennamer said. \u201cThe iguanas are cold-blooded, so that the hotter it is, the more active they are. They eat more when it\u2019s hot. Their metabolism runs higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that iguanas also are attracted to the \u201cbright beautiful flowers\u201d that residents plant in the spring.<\/p>\n

The iguanas generate debate in the community, partly over whether they should be allowed to roam free, or if they should be humanely killed.<\/p>\n

Dirk Gilbert, a Pompano resident who grew up in South Florida, favors leaving the reptiles alone, opposing efforts to kill them. He says that, eventually, \u201cnature takes care of the invasive species\u201d without human intervention.<\/p>\n

Given the species\u2019 growth rate, Portuallo said iguanas will remain a fixture in the region.<\/p>\n

Read more Warm and dry weather conditions on tap for Central Florida this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just ongoing,\u201d Portuallo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iguanas are thriving this summer in South Florida \u2014 in people’s backyards, near sidewalks and along canal banks \u2014 months after thousands were wiped out in a freeze.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nIguanas bounce back in South Florida after February freeze wiped out thousands - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3099\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iguanas bounce back in South Florida after February freeze wiped out thousands - 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