Glimpse of Invasive Iguanas

[JaceSpace1369]

Hey guys, this is not my video. But I wanted to showcase to y'all just how bad the iguana problen can be when concentrated. This is how it gets in golf courses that are manned and unmanned. We have a little of 1200 golf courses down here and although our problen is mostly localized in South Florida they have made their way up to central Florida.

I personally consider myself lucky that our states allows us to hunt these guys with air rifles. If we couldn't we would be inundated with them. I've personally taken over 9k in the last 4 years. I just started doing removal of them full time last year.

They may not be going anywhere but we do try to make a dent in their population. Usually whatever number of iguanas you see, you need to multiply at by 10 to get an idea of how many there are in the area.

 

[ChickenDumpling]

Send some to South Dakota before the winter season starts. I'm ready for them.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

Send some to South Dakota before the winter season starts. I'm ready for them.

I wouldn't be able to afford the shipping cost

 

[JungleShooter]

How in the world do I convince my wife to let me make a trip to South Florida.....??


Why are iguanas such a huge plague in Florida — but down here in Peru with a huge part of the Amazon jungle — we have NO iguana problem.....


Who's got unused airline miles available to fly me up from Peru?!

Matthias

 

[wgd]

I wouldn't be able to afford the shipping cost

Just send a male and female!

 

[Ranchibi]

That is really eye opening on how quickly they breed! The climate in Florida is almost ideal for them, Florida kinda needs a freeze to cull a larger portion of their population! You are doing FANTASTIC work culling them with AIRGUNS, kudos to YOU! I wonder how overrun the courses and parks would be without your work!? Keep up the excellent shooting

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

When did you take the video? Rather than a breeding thing, they all may be migrating in the same direction because of a weather related thing, safety in numbers and seeking shelter. The deer do similar but different things here, like all hearding up and eating in the fields at odd times right before a big storm. There's a big "change" in the weather that is passing by you guy's down there right now.

 

[Ranchibi]

How in the world do I convince my wife to let me make a trip to South Florida.....??


Why are iguanas such a huge plague in Florida — but down here in Peru with a huge part of the Amazon jungle — we have NO iguana problem.....


Who's got unused airline miles available to fly me up from Peru?!

Matthias

Matthias, good question.....I think the Peruvian jungle has many predators that keep the iguana population in check. I used to be in the Exotic animal business and there are many many big predatory monitor lizards, snakes, javelina, tarantulas, spiders, caimen, birds, frogs that prey on the younger ones and I am sure there are many more I don't know of even large fish...... Not many animals can mess with a full grown adult iguana without getting smacked by their big hard tails, they will bite too. In a tropical jungle setting every thing is concentrated, so close to each other, it's truly hard to survive in those conditions!

 

[fb7782]

You need to start a guide service like they do for wild hogs. Get people to pay you to take them out hunting for a day.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

When did you take the video? Rather than a breeding thing, they all may be migrating in the same direction because of a weather related thing, safety in numbers and seeking shelter. The deer do similar but different things here, like all hearding up and eating in the fields at odd times right before a big storm. There's a big "change" in the weather that is passing by you guy's down there right now.
View attachment 494650

I didn't fild it, it's from one of the guys I've done work and videos with Raj Iguana Man.

That could be a reason for seeing them like this right now. But the thing is that they're like this year round, specially if unbothered. I've done work in miami golf courses where you would see groups of 10-15 in clusters.

In 3 hours time I would easily remove 80-100 iguanas and that's because of having to do back and forth trip between picking up them, dropping them off by my car and going out for more. We literally have hundreds of thousands, and the weather here in Florida is perfect for them.

That is really eye opening on how quickly they breed! The climate in Florida is almost ideal for them, Florida kinda needs a freeze to cull a larger portion of their population! You are doing FANTASTIC work culling them with AIRGUNS, kudos to YOU! I wonder how overrun the courses and parks would be without your work!? Keep up the excellent shooting

The weather here is most definitely perfect for them. In fact it is so good for them that theyyre mating season has extended. Normally they wouod finish mating by early December, lay eggs in February-March and the iguanas hatch by may-june.

Now we have iguanas that are still laying eggs in April-May with eggs hatching in late August. I still manage to find 4" iguanas and they should not be any smaller than 6-7".

Even a deep freeze would mean high 30's for a couple days straight all throughout south florida. It used to be high 40's was enough. They're acclimating and learning when to go hide in the burrows if it gets cold, some are even withstanding it little by little each year.

I appreciate that words! This is honestly a group effort between all of us doing this And for the most part, we know that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon but we definitely want to slow down the number that we can.

 

[3Crows]

Anything can be made extinct, they and "they" are who you think, need to let uw just kill the darn things without mercy. I hwve spent a lot of time in SoFla and the things are a menace on multiple levels. And a good M-Rod .25 will kill the excrement out of them.L:ast dive trip and visit down there zi brought one of my M-Rods. A .25 JSB to the iguana noggin turns the lights out. Even the bigger ones. Nasty things. Messing all over the deck, wrose than grackles by 100X.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

How in the world do I convince my wife to let me make a trip to South Florida.....??


Why are iguanas such a huge plague in Florida — but down here in Peru with a huge part of the Amazon jungle — we have NO iguana problem.....


Who's got unused airline miles available to fly me up from Peru?!

Matthias

What's the population like in Peru?

Iguanas here like to trive in Urban areas, farms, canals, hotels, beaches, parks, ponds.

You will hardly ever find them in the swamp lands/everglades. At least nowhere near as much as you would in the city.

This is is what rich friends are for

Is the youtuber Casa y Pesca Peruvian? I know he's come here to hunt iguanas once or twice.

Just send a male and female!

We can legally ship you the carcasses

 

[JaceSpace1369]

You need to start a guide service like they do for wild hogs. Get people to pay you to take them out hunting for a day.

Oh I do, we do guided hunting tours. Airboats, bassboats, golf carts.

Iguana Busters | Iguana Removal Service

Who you going to call? Iguana Busters! Safe and Humane iguana removal service and iguana prevention. Proudly veteran owned and operated!

iguanabusters.com

Anything can be made extinct, they and "they" are who you think, need to let uw just kill the darn things without mercy. I hwve spent a lot of time in SoFla and the things are a menace on multiple levels. And a good M-Rod .25 will kill the excrement out of them.L:ast dive trip and visit down there zi brought one of my M-Rods. A .25 JSB to the iguana noggin turns the lights out. Even the bigger ones. Nasty things. Messing all over the deck, wrose than grackles by 100X.

Yup, I personally don't care for the .25 but ai've used all other caliber, and prefer .177 and .22.

Not only do they leave huge excrement everywhere, they also further erode areas that may have had problems prior. They also reduce the structural integrity of seawalls, burrow under foundations, lift up your roof tiles and cause 100's of thousands in agricultural and landscaping damage on the regular.

 

[drsquall]

Man I could go through alot of 177 and 22 pellets there. Geez

 

[Stubbers]

That is a pesters dream. Out of control and that is with mitigations in place from people like OP taking action.

They must breed like rabbits. *does some googling...*

2 - 2.5 month gestation period, 20-70 eggs laid annually from females, so at average 1 female produces 45 offspring, and reproductive maturity takes about 2 years. Geeeeeeeeeeeez.

Yea, that is insane, I can see how their population can easily explode to the point it currently is, invasive indeed.

-Matt

 

[JaceSpace1369]

That is a pesters dream. Out of control and that is with mitigations in place from people like OP taking action.

They must breed like rabbits. *does some googling...*

2 - 2.5 month gestation period, 20-70 eggs laid annually from females, so at average 1 female produces 45 offspring, and reproductive maturity takes about 2 years. Geeeeeeeeeeeez.

Yea, that is insane, I can see how their population can easily explode to the point it currently is, invasive indeed.

-Matt

Yeah, what I make sure to tell customers/potential customers or anyone who tries to chastise me for what I do. Is that just because they aren't being affected, doesn't mean it's not a problem.

Say 10k females lay 70 eggs and that somehow only 40% make it to adulthood ( survival rate is much higher), that's 40,000 iguanas in 1 mating season and we have iguanas well into the hundred thousands. I believe last year it was estimated we had well over a million but I can't site the source and although I believe it, I'd rather not push their numbers that high.

Only then do most people understand that this is a necessity and back off.

 

[3Crows]

Oh I do, we do guided hunting tours. Airboats, bassboats, golf carts.

Iguana Busters | Iguana Removal Service

Who you going to call? Iguana Busters! Safe and Humane iguana removal service and iguana prevention. Proudly veteran owned and operated!

iguanabusters.com

Yup, I personally don't care for the .25 but not only do they leave huge excrement everywhere, they also further erode areas that may have had problems prior. They also reduce the structural integrity of seawalls, burrow under foundations, lift up your roof tiles and cause 100's of thousands in agricultural and landscaping damage on the regular.

Yeah, I was only hitting the top of the iceberg. They are very destructive, even more so than nutria. I always had coke money back in the day, a few nutria tails and I got a coke or credit towards .22 bullets or pellets.

 

[JaceSpace1369]

Yeah, I was only hitting the top of the iceberg. They are very destructive, even more so than nutria. I always had coke money back in the day, a few nutria tails and I got a coke or credit towards .22 bullets or pellets.

Yeah, I don't shoot as often as some of the guys on this forum do, but I go through a ton of ammo just getting rid of these iguanas. So I strive for high power .177 slugs or really good deals shooting .22

 

[TimeRabbit]

Can iguanas legally be trapped in Florida?

 

[Ezana4CE]

… I wanted to showcase to y'all just how bad the iguana problem can be… Usually whatever number of iguanas you see, you need to multiply at by 10 to get an idea of how many there are in the area.

Sidewinder and Hatsan Blitz time.