Falling Iguanas Alert: Lizards Could Fall From Trees In FL Cold Snap

FLORIDA — With a polar vortex pushing frigid Arctic air into Florida, temperatures have dropped across the state and even parts of South Florida could see temperatures that feel like they’re in the 30s, meteorologists said.

This means one thing for the region: A chance of falling cold-stunned iguanas.

The most northern part of the state along the Panhandle is expected to see wind chill temperatures in the 20s Tuesday and Wednesday night, while Central Florida and Tampa Bay-area temperatures are expected to dip into the 40s and 30s.

Even parts of South Florida will see wind chill temperatures in the 40s with some spots having “feels-like” temperatures in the 30s, the National Weather Service’s Miami office posted to X, formerly Twitter.

• Also Read: Polar Vortex To Bring Temps In The 20s To Parts Of FL: Reports

Temperatures this low come with the likelihood of green iguanas, an invasive species that are prevalent across South Florida communities, falling from trees.

“When it gets this cold like this, it’s funny to those who aren’t from here to see the news people talking about iguanas falling from trees, but … it can and will happen,” said Joe Wasilewski, a conservation biologist with the King Cobra Conservancy and a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Iguana Specialist Group, previously told Patch.

He added, “If it’s under 40 (degrees), it’s gonna happen. If it’s in the 50s, they’re slow. If it’s in the 40s, they’re on the brink of falling. And if it’s in the 30s, they’re down.”

Green iguanas, which are cold-blooded, were introduced to Florida decades ago from Central and South America.

Those are areas “that very rarely dip below 45 or 40 degrees,” Dermot Bowden with the South Florida Herpetological Society, previously told Patch. “It just doesn’t happen, so they’re not that cold tolerant. So, the few times the temperatures get that low here, they get what we call cold stunned.”

Usually, that “magic number” is 45 degrees, he said. Any temperature below that, and the iguanas become inactive, meaning they’re more likely to fall from trees and other high places in which they might be sleeping or hiding.

People often mistakenly think the lizards found lying on the ground during a cold snap are dead, but they aren’t.

If anyone comes across a cold-stunned iguana, “the best thing to do is just leave them the way they are,” Bowden said. “They will recover.”

As temperatures rise, usually when they hit around 50 degrees, the lizards start moving again. It’s only when the extreme cold lasts for several days that the iguanas can’t recover, he said.