Florida Gave this Florida Man a LICENSE TO KILL (iguanas)

Jeeebus

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Aug 29, 2006
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https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/f...0190703-ssgmoikvljdwvju6g5jxajodqi-story.html

Maybe Florida Man can stay out of trouble by taking up a new hobby: iguana hunting.
The green iguana population is growing exponentially in Florida — and the state’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission wants them dead.
“Homeowners do not need a permit to kill iguanas on their own property, and the FWC encourages homeowners to kill green iguanas on their own property whenever possible,” a notice the commission’s website reads.
The directive also said the “invasive species” can be killed year-round without a permit on 22 public lands in south Florida.
So basically, the Sunshine State wants today’s sunrise to be each and every green iguana’s last. But the threat they pose is more serious than many might think.
[Popular on SunSentinel.com] Where you can watch fireworks in South Florida »
“They will destroy agriculture, undermine roads, cause electrical transformers to fail. They can transmit salmonella and can be a FAA safety hazard," University of Florida wildlife scientist Joseph Wasilewski told ABC News.
Streaks of cold weather can help stop population growth , but rising temperatures make Florida an increasingly welcoming environment for the creatures.
Green iguanas can live for up to 10 years in the wild, reaching 5 feet in length and laying up to 76 eggs per year.
Green iguanas are not native to Florida, but they thrive in the state’s warm climate. The reptiles are native to Central and South America and were first reported in Florida in the 1960s, according to the FWC.
“It saddens me that all of these magnificent animals, along with multitudes of other invasive reptile species have to be put down,” Wasilewski told ABC News. “There is no alternative for the problems.”

I appreciate the directive to kill iguanas whenever possible without any suggested methods of removal. This will inevitably lead to dozens of 'Florida Man' articles titled "Florida Man, Naked and Greasy, Chases Iguana Down I-95 With a Chainsaw" or "Florida Man Uses Jui Jit Su Against Iguana - Iguana Wins."

Hipster Jeeebus was doing his part before the official state endorsement. The iguanas used to hang around the yard but now at the slightest sound of me walking outside it's "oh shit - RUNNNNNNN!!!!!" I don't particularly enjoy shooting them, but they really are a menace. They destroy trees/vegetation/fruits etc. and there are no natural predators. Usually if you shoot one they all disappear for a couple weeks before getting brave enough to come back. I'm wondering if psychological warfare can prolong that - maybe start putting iguana heads on pikes in the yard and dropping leaflets from planes.
 
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zinfamous

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maybe if you guys just stopped rounding up all of those invasive South/Central American pythons, there would be more things to eat the iguanas?
 

Captante

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Oct 20, 2003
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Good luck managing that flavor profile. Hope this helps.
https://brokenarrowranch.com/blogs/recipes/tagged/recipe+wild-boar


Also here's how to prepare Iguana, for Floridians.
(not that the Broward/Palm Beach region is known for competence in general)
https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/restaurants/six-ways-to-cook-iguana-6392248


I've actually had roasted wild-boar a couple times ... had slightly gamy pork flavor. With bacon IDK if you could taste much of a difference.

And my bet is iguana tastes like Alligator more then chicken!
 

Jeeebus

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view from the kitchen this morning. practically daring me to shoot him.

20190704-094306.jpg
 

lxskllr

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Nov 30, 2004
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I always wondered where Greek salad came from.Who knew it was from trees?!
 

Jeeebus

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It looks like you're farming Tupperware.

that's my patented iguana / squirrel / blue jay protection for mangoes. doesn't stop the raccoons, but I would lose hundreds more of our fruits without those. I bought something like 500 - 750 strawberry clamshells for that purpose alone. That's in addition to all the ones we save throughout the year.
 
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akugami

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So species like iguanas are invasive and overrunning Florida because Florida has no natural predators. Clearly the answer is to import something that naturally hunts iguanas and release it into the wild to control the iguanas.
 

akugami

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Hopefully everyone realizes I was not being serious about importing other species which may have even more devastating unintended effects.
 
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zinfamous

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Hopefully everyone realizes I was not being serious about importing other species which may have even more devastating unintended effects.

right, as I suggested earlier though, FL already has/had the solution with the previously-invading boa population...but the dumb fools went about eradicating those before the iguanas invaded!
 

Jeeebus

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Aug 29, 2006
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Hopefully everyone realizes I was not being serious about importing other species which may have even more devastating unintended effects.

As with everything else in life, the Simpsons already told us how that goes.

https://comb.io/lthy2e

We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards. But aren't the snakes even worse? Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat. Then we're stuck with gorillas! No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
 
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