I’m currently in south Florida killing iguanas. AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the seafood seller sell them as FISH? Or does he have an Iguana stick. Does he hate it when you eff up the meat?

Most of the good meat is in the rear thighs, front shoulders, and first few inches of the tail. We try to hit them in the head so they just drop dead right there. Makes them a lot easier to retrieve, especially near water. They’ll go underwater to hide, or go into a ground burrow. if you don’t get a good clean killing shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I have not gone to Ft Lauderdale for this purpose, but I have done the same in Puerto Rico. Just killed fetal iguanas though. No adults. Figured the world should know there’s more than one of us out there on DCUM. I have also lit forests on fire for pay (it’s good for them - whole ecosystems, and the species that live in them, disappear when there are not regular burns on the landscape).

Iguana whackers of the world UNITE!!!

[Anonymous]

my mother, along with her neighbors that live on a golf course, paid hundreds of dollars for a removal of maybe 6. You can make big dollars$$, especially target the trusting seniors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you are doing this for sport and the thrill of the kill? I’m pretty sure that no matter how many you kill, there will be countless others to replace them. They don’t like the cold weather so better hurry and spear + club as many now while it’s still warm as they lie frozen when there is a cold spell, wouldn’t want to spoil your fun,

Yep, doing it for sport, because it’s fun. Well, probably not for the iguana, but oh well. I try to shoot as many females as I can, because that does make an impact on the numbers. The males are bigger, have better (cooler looking) skins and more meat, but killing females definitely has more of an impact with population control.

If you have 20 male iguanas and 20 female iguanas, at the end of the breeding season (just ended, btw) you have 20 gravid (egg bearing) females.

If you kill 18 of those males, you’ll still have 20 gravid females at the end of the breeding season.

But if you kill 18 males and 10 females, you’ll only have 10 gravid females at the end of the season. So killing the females helps a great deal. You’ll never get rid of all of them, but if the pressure is kept up, it will at least keep the numbers down from what they’d be if no one did anything.

As far as cold weather, yeah, below about 50 degrees they get sorta comatose. They can fall right outta the trees. But when they warm up, they’re back to normal. It will never be cold enough, long enough in south Florida to kill them off. Not with climate change at least. Unless climate change means it gets colder, too. And I don’t think anyone ever talks about that happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: my mother, along with her neighbors that live on a golf course, paid hundreds of dollars for a removal of maybe 6. You can make big dollars$$, especially target the trusting seniors

Eh, I wouldn’t wanna take something I enjoy doing for free and making work out of it. I’ll keep my day job and just stick to killing them on my own time.

[Anonymous]

^ my mother names hers, there is a giant one that sits on her fence named grandpa. When I was visiting her in the summer, her backyard was right out of a 70s horror movie like “Ben” or “Frogs” with an invasion of iguanas sunning themselves on her lanai, feeding off of her mango tree. I’m sure she would give anything to get rid of them. Come and get that grandpa! 🦎

[Anonymous]

Any luck with the pythons? It's insane how quickly they've decimated wildlife in the Everglades and surrounding areas.

[Anonymous]

Bravo! Especially if people eat the ones you kill.

Can you start on tearing down the invasive vines strangling the native trees along the C&O Canal when you get back? It is depressing that so much invasive kudzo, ivy, and wisteria are choking so many river oak, red bud and sycamore trees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Before everyone starts freaking because 'Florida', please know that this is a south Fl thing. I live in the Tampa Bay area and have never seen an iguana. They are in S. Fl and are invasive, and I'm glad you got some OP!

In fact, I've never even seen an gator in the wild (those are there though).

What? How could you have never seen a gator? I remember seeing them in drainage ditches next to restaurants or highways.

PP here- I know! I look! I mean, they are here of course, but I've only seen them at Busch Gardens. I thought when I moved here that they'd be moseying down the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

NP. Harpooning and clubbing them - that makes me sad. But I don’t even like to kill insects.

[Anonymous]

Killing for sport is sick. It’s blood lust. And op admits not feeling anything. That is psychopath territory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does something inside of you feel sad when you kill one?

Nope. Not even a little bit. I’m not that kinda guy. Neither is she.

Fascinating. You should do an AMA just on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Killing for sport is sick. It’s blood lust. And op admits not feeling anything. That is psychopath territory.

Did you miss the part where they are sold to restaurants? Also, hunting is not blood lust. It’s hunting. Do you judge a wolf for killing a rabbit? We are animals. I say this as a vegetarian who still understands the need for and importance of hunting.

Iguanas are a nuisance pest here in Florida. Unless you feel guilty every time you kill a roach, you are a hypocrite.

[Anonymous]

No questions but very interesting. Have never been to Florida and didn't know iguanas were a problem invasive there.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting that people aren't going nuts about this on this forum. I support you op. I also support people who trap and kill house sparrows. They are an aggressive species that kills off smaller nesting birds. People freak out about this. House sparrows will kill anything on the nest and take over all possible nests in an area. I tried for a month to stop a male from taking over a bluebird nest. Once they find a nest, nothing will stop them from killing whatever is in it.