OTTAWA CITIZEN (Ontario) 03 August 05 Reptile 'tearing up' (David Adams, The Times, London UK)
An invasion of iguanas in Florida has caused a rift between nature lovers and homeowners who say something must be done about the vegetarian lizards that are devouring the landscape.
Proposals include mass extermination and human consumption.
Residents complain the four-legged reptiles turn up in people's homes, take dips in outdoor pools and relieve themselves. They have even been known to sunbathe at marinas, leaving their corrosive excrement on the decks of luxury yachts.
Iguanas are not native to Florida and were probably introduced by accident as pets who escaped into the wild. Sold at pet stores as easily handled 15-centimetre lizards, they can reach 1.8 metres in length. Some, too long to handle, are abandoned by owners.
Experts do not know how many of the cold-blooded iguanas now live in Florida, but estimates reach into the hundreds of thousands.
Kenneth Krysko, a herpetology expert with the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, said, "Iguanas are a huge problem. They are tearing up the landscape."
Mr. Krysko advocates harvesting them.
"It's a good food source. They are pretty tasty," he said.
For those who might be interested, he recommends a newly released cookbook, The Culinary Herpetologist.
George Neugent, a county councillor in Key West, recently drew anger when he refused to reject a suggestion that iguanas be exterminated by freezing them to death.
"I thought that was interesting, but as some people have pointed out, getting them in the freezer might be tricky," he said.