In late January, Floridians were surprised by an unusual drop in temperatures.
According to experts, this phenomenon was due to the bomb cyclone that hit the east coast of the United States, causing the coldest days in more than a decade in this state.
This unexpected cold resulted in a strange phenomenon, which surprised local residents and became viral on social media: the fall of several iguanas from trees and other heights, which was popularly baptized as a “rain of iguanas”.
The famous frozen iguanas of South Florida at the dog park! #frozen #iguana #southflorida #hollywoodflorida pic.twitter.com/uE4zDOGHuC
— Diane 🕊🐢🐘 (@dwarner1220) January 30, 2022
The green iguana (iguana iguana) is a reptile that comes from Central and South America, and needs to sunbathe to increase its body temperature and stay active.
In this way, when there is a drastic change in temperature, they have problems regulating their body and enter a state of immobilization in which their bodily functions are reduced to a minimum.
Iguanas can usually be seen hanging from trees. Then, as they enter a frozen state, they loosen and fall to the ground, which is what happened a few days ago in Florida.
Although social networks were filled with videos of people lamenting the state of the iguanas, and many of them pointed out that they were dead, the truth is that they were only frozen and returned to activity once their body temperature increased.
Florida #frozeniguana Iguana fell out of tree! Ole boy cold af pic.twitter.com/3xY6ygW4i7
— 🎣🏆LETS FISH🎣🏆Mullet Run Fishing (@TheMulletRun) January 30, 2022
For this reason, the authorities advise people to leave these specimens in the place where they fell and wait for them to “revive” on their own.
The problem is that there is a lot of misinformation about these introduced species. In fact, according to experts, iguanas are one of the invasive species with the greatest impact on US wildlife.
It should be remembered that since last year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) prohibited the sale and possession of more than fifteen types of reptiles, including the green iguana.
It is hoped that this unusual phenomenon will serve to raise awareness about the risk of introducing species that are adapted to other types of environments.
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