WOFL (Tampa, Florida) 05 April 08 Iguana Loose in Tampa Neighborhood
Tampa, Fla.: What would you do if you opened your front door and found an iguana trying to make its way inside your house? It happened to a Tampa woman on Saturday afternoon, and she called for help.
Tampa Police say a three-foot iguana tried to get into a home on Curtis Street, and residents who live nearby still aren't sure where the reptile came from. Those who live on the street say a neighbor was cutting his grass on Monday when he spotted the iguana, and he caught it and released it into a nearby pond.
Police came to the scene on Saturday and animal control was called, but neither agency is able to pick up that kind of animal. So, residents were left to watch the iguana spend the day wandering in and out of a drain pipe, and lying on the street in front of their homes.
Neighbors believe someone could have released the iguana, and that might be how it wound up near their homes. Some say they're scared, including the owner of the home the iguana tried to get inside of. She called her son to come and help.
"It's not everyday you see it," said Tommy McCarter.
McCarter says neighbors hope to catch the iguana and take it to a local pet store that might be able to care for it and find it a more appropriate home.
According Bill Kern, Jr., assistant professor of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida, iguanas imported into the state as pets have escaped or been released. As a result, they have established in South Florida.
Kern states that "this has created unique problems for Florida's homeowners and businesses. South and Central Florida's subtropical climate allows these large herbivorous (plant-eating) lizards to survive, reproduce, and become part of the Florida environment."
Three large members of the iguana family have become established in Florida. These are the common green iguana (Iguana iguana), the Mexican spiny-tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura pectinata) and black spiny-tailed iguana (C. similis).
Raccoons, snakes, hawks, owls, egrets, herons, cats, and dogs kill the majority of juvenile iguanas. After young iguanas reach about two feet in length, they have fewer natural enemies.
Freezes keeps iguanas limited to the southern half of the Florida peninsula. It is illegal to release iguanas in Florida.
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