Robert Pandolfino
FOX8Sun, 30 Jan 2022 08:25 UTC
© AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, FileIn this Dec. 7, 2016, file photo, a green iguana checks out the flowers on a Bougainvillea plant in Hollywood, Fla. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release says people should exterminate the large green lizards on their properties as well as on 22 public lands areas across South Florida. Iguanas aren’t dangerous or aggressive, but they damage seawalls, sidewalks, landscape foliage and can dig lengthy tunnels.
With temperatures expected to drop across south Florida Sunday morning,
iguanas could fall from their perches in suburban trees.It wouldn't be the first time the reptiles get too chilly and tumble from the trees.
In 2020, the
National Weather Service in Miami issued an unofficial warning to residents to look out for "falling iguanas" as temperatures dipped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
The green iguanas, which are most commonly cold-stunned, are not native to Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. But do not worry they are not dead, in fact, they may thaw out and attack you, according to Zoo Miami's Ron Magill.
"Generally speaking, the larger the iguana, the more it survives without showing any type of lasting effects. The smaller ones, however - you know, when you get the 2-footers and smaller, those animals many times do not recover. And they end up dying from that type of cold," Magill said.
Magill said if you encounter frozen iguana, you should treat it as though it could be alive and dangerous. Bottom line: Don't touch them.
"Incapacitated as you think, they can give you a serious bite," Magill told NPR. "They can give you a serious scratch, a serious whip with their tail. They can present that kind of physical injury to you."
The iguanas are not the only reptiles that can be stunned by this weekend's cold snap: Sea turtles also stiffen Wildlife officials say the frigid animals may appear dead but often are still alive.
Comment: The places like Florida that have a sub-tropical or tropical climate in the recent years have more and more cold snaps. We can see very low temperatures, snow and ice where it was unknown before.
Not just animals suffer from cold snaps like this but also the plants. Crops can be devastated in just a few hours.
Will the people ever wake up from the story about global warming and finally see that in reality we are having a global cooling which will affect our food sources and change the world we know and the live we live?
The National Weather Service said the temperatures are going to warm up nicely after a weekend at or near-freezing temperatures. The low temperatures are quite rare in Florida, but at first glance, the citrus, strawberry and tomato winter crops suffered no major damage. Farmers spray water onto the crops to help protect them from the cold.
© AP Photo/Chris O’MearaIce clings to oranges in a grove Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, in Plant City, Fla. Farmers spray water on their crops to help keep the fruit from getting damaged by the cold. Temperatures overnight dipped into the mid-20’s.
As for iguanas, that's another matter. They are an invasive species well accustomed to the trees of South Florida. When it gets cold, below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they go into a sort of suspended animation before they fall to the ground.
They usually wake up with the sun's warmth.
It got cold in Florida over the weekend. The National Weather Service reported that West Palm Beach hit 37 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest morning of the past 12 years. Up the East Coast in Vero Beach, the record low was tied at 30 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1978.
The Gasparilla pirate parade in Tampa, which was not held last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, went off without a hitch Saturday in sunny but chilly weather. Thousands of people did pirate-y things, snagged beads from the parade route, and generally ate and drank in a merry fashion.
Yet the unseasonably cold weather in Florida prompted one church on the Gulf of Mexico side of the state to rethink how it would welcome parishioners and visitors.
St. Michael the Archangel, on Siesta Key, canceled its two scheduled Masses on Sunday because it was too cold. The church is going through a renovation and has been holding Mass outdoors, as it did on Saturday afternoon in 49 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and with brisk winds making it feel even colder.
Masses have been held under a tent, but Saturday's wind dislodged one of the support posts and rendered the temporary structure unsafe. The Rev. Michael Cannon was offering the sacrament of communion Sunday — drive-thru style — but Mass would not be held, in anticipation of temperatures falling into the mid-20s shortly after sunrise in the Sarasota area.
"It would not be wise to have Masses with those kinds of temperatures," Cannon said.
The church is expected to be fully functional again with completed renovations by Easter.
And it will be beach weather again in Florida soon. It always is.
Without governmental help, I might add.
As a resident, I would start googling for Iguana recipes ...