Miami Beach Iguana Removal Budget Quadrupled to $200k

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elbeau

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Sep 6, 2022
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Miami
The City of Miami Beach Commission quadrupled their iguana removal budget from $50k to $200k. The City of Miami Beach is even looking into putting a bounty on them; they're apparently forming an ad hoc group that'll be taking bids. (This isn't for all of Miami - never mind the state)
YouTube: Miami Beach officials coming up with ideas to get rid of invasive iguanas
I've heard of private contractors charging ≈$50 per taken iguana; not sure if that is accurate.
 
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Miami Airgunner said:
Well, do we need to start a company?

Group up us locals and incorporate
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unionize ! better pay ,health care Banners all that stuff and don't forget the Strike vote , just kidding 🤣 maybe you should get together and volunteer to clean up your city ? it would be a great publicity plus for airguns .

You know i was really serious about the Volunteer thing , you could purpose the free eradication and have the city provide Vests with Volunteer Iggy removal on it , Great Publicity for everyone a win/win
 
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$50 seems very high per animal you are really going to charge for your time of course probably on a daily rate basis. Some days you get a lot other days not so much. Of course you will need some pretty good insurance coverage before any govt agency would even thing about hiring you that is where your real cost is going to be. Shooting pest species as business is never quite as fun as just doing it for "fun" but this looks like a great opportunity for someone. More likely an existing pest removal business will move into this market since they would have the business side of everything already in place.
 
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Anybody have a good resource for the estimated iguana population in South Florida? Eddmaps green iguana distribution (recommended by the Florida Fishing & Wildlife Commission) is grossly inaccurate. I've taken 10 in an area that hasn't reported any sightings in >5 years.

The bounty system worked well in the Cayman island for reducing the number of iguanas from 1.32 million to ≈87,000 since the bounty program started in October 2018. Due to the iguana's rapid reproduction rate, they've eradicated 1.35 million in that time. The program has paid > $7.3 million so far with a projected budget of $10 mil. Though they've upped the bounty of CI$5 per iguana almost 50% per iguana, it is less lucrative due to the dwindling numbers.
They are now looking for ideas beyond the initial bounty program to keep the iguanas in check, including per-hour pay.
FYI, the 1 CI = 1.2 USD, so $7.3 million converts to nearly $9 mil USD.

Sources:
$7.3 million paid for iguana bounty June 9, 2021
New ideas needed to keep green iguanas in check April 2, 2022
DoE opens bid on new approach to invasive iguana April 3, 2022

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estarkey7 said:
I recently had a discussion with a friend of a friend about how he made $1000 this year trapping groundhogs around our city. The thing is, you can't do pest disposal for pay, unless you are licensed by the state as a pest control operator.

I wonder if Florida has something similar...
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Hence my suggestion of starting and insuring company. :)
 
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estarkey7 said:
The thing is, you can't do pest disposal for pay, unless you are licensed by the state as a pest control operator.
I wonder if Florida has something similar...
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Only registered trappers can remove LIVE iguanas from where they are caught; it is illegal for anyone else to transport live iguanas in FL. Everyone else must "humanely euthanize" iguanas onsite. No permits needed other than landowner permission, etc.
As far as doing pest disposal for pay, it is probably best to have a company and insurance to minimize any personal liability. I've read that the ballpark price range for the insurance is $2,500/yr. I'd be curious what the limits of liability are on those policies and if the underwriters evaluate whether or not airguns will be used versus just traps & snare poles. In my opinion, the risk is much less using the latter two.
 
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dizzums said:
im sure .. one thing is certain in a more ritzy area especially, you cant waltz around town with a high tech assualt rifle looking gun ... trust me on that one .. cops would be all over you in about 2 mins ..
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That's one factor in upgrading to a bottle on my Air Venturi Avenger. Many airgunners also add neon tape to the moderators/front to make their rifles look less threatening.
 
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Miami Airgunner said:
You call the cops first. Easy solution. :)
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They sure make it tough to find the right district to call. Miami-Dade Police District Stations has a link to an interactive map of police districts, but the link is no good (even after you find an external signup link for an ArcGis account).
Anyway, here's what I found to be the best. https://gisweb.miamidade.gov/emaps/
At the bottom of the page, if you click "Police District" in the Information Layer dropdown, it'll show you the proper district name in the box on the left once you either enter an address or click a spot on the map.
From there, you'll have to go to back to that earlier/separate page Miami-Dade Police District Stations (sigh) to get the contact info for the police station.

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Looking from the outside. I cannot believe they allow people to sling lead around structures like we see in the videos.. To me a shooter should be required to only shoot IG's that are on the ground and the shooter must be elevated. However, I say hats off to FL officials for allowing this I just hope granny don't get an eye put out..
 
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There’s been a lot of issues with young kids making you tube videos going around shooting iguanas in peoples backyard with canals. This is unfortunate for iguana removal companies in SFL like ours.

nypost.com

Florida iguana hunter misses target, hits pool boy with pellet gun

An iguana hunter armed with a pellet gun in Florida missed his target and struck a pool boy working in somebody’s yard last Friday, according to a report. The misfire happened as pool workers were …
nypost.com nypost.com


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Humane iguana control said:
There’s been a lot of issues with young kids making you tube videos going around shooting iguanas in peoples backyard with canals. This is unfortunate for iguana removal companies in SFL like ours.

nypost.com

Florida iguana hunter misses target, hits pool boy with pellet gun

An iguana hunter armed with a pellet gun in Florida missed his target and struck a pool boy working in somebody’s yard last Friday, according to a report. The misfire happened as pool workers were …
nypost.com nypost.com


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LOL, did you really put a set of iguana spines on your truck?

That's something between hilarious and completely awesome. . .

And yes, the stupid down here is strong. . . I'm surprised we don't have more issues really.

I have heard reports about guides doing stupid stuff on the canals shooting into private property, as well as stuff like the news article above. SMH. Idiots going to ruin the fun for everyone because they have no sense and zero chill.
 
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Miami Airgunner said:
LOL, did you really put a set of iguana spines on your truck?

That's something between hilarious and completely awesome. . .

And yes, the stupid down here is strong. . . I'm surprised we don't have more issues really.

I have heard reports about guides doing stupid stuff on the canals shooting into private property, as well as stuff like the news article above. SMH. Idiots going to ruin the fun for everyone because they have no sense and zero chill.
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Yea our company vehicle is preety unique 😜, glad to know there’s people like you that are aware of the irresponsible actions some are taking. Are you a local?
 
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