Author Topic: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!  (Read 2962 times)

Carbo

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It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« on: September 14, 2019, 09:34:43 AM »
Today, September 14th, is National Iguana Awareness Day, celebrated every September 14th since 1998.  Celebrate, share the joy, hug an iguana today.  8)

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2019, 06:46:30 PM »
How about kill an iguana?  That's what the state of Florida is encouraging homeowners to do now.  About time!
John

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2019, 07:41:27 PM »
Sure he meant Hunt not Hug  ;)
Got to be if you are in Florida.

fruitnewbie

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2019, 07:53:47 PM »
Are iguanas good to eat? Are they a pest? We don't have iguanas in Hawaii. Please educate us!

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2019, 10:56:59 AM »
Are iguanas good to eat? Are they a pest? We don't have iguanas in Hawaii. Please educate us!

You better make sure some idiot doesn't set his pet iguanas loose.  Then it's all over for Hawaii, just like SoFlo and Puerto Rico.  Yes, they are a pest and a nuisance.  My neighbor has killed eleven big ones so far this summer.  Also, our Everglades are totally infested with Burmese Pythons, and we have giant ameiva lizards all over South Florida now, all because of brainless pet owners!
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 10:59:34 AM by johnb51 »
John

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2019, 10:59:10 AM »
Iguanas topped my soursops for me

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2019, 11:01:06 AM »
Iguanas topped my soursops for me

They love papaya plants.
John

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2019, 12:24:44 PM »
Just solved the mystery of the Poolside Pooper. Had to move a camera and manually search because the motion sensor wasn't triggered. Most bets were on raccoon or a opossum; turns out it is a nice sized iguana that's been frequenting the side of my pool on almost a daily basis. Think it has been doggin my passionflowers and who knows what else. Plenty of moringa, papaya, bugs, and lizards for it to live on.

« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 12:28:10 PM by roblack »

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2019, 02:42:17 PM »
Just solved the mystery of the Poolside Pooper. Had to move a camera and manually search because the motion sensor wasn't triggered. Most bets were on raccoon or a opossum; turns out it is a nice sized iguana that's been frequenting the side of my pool on almost a daily basis. Think it has been doggin my passionflowers and who knows what else. Plenty of moringa, papaya, bugs, and lizards for it to live on.
Yes, they leave piles of sh*t behind that look like they came from a larger animal.
John

fruitnewbie

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #9 on: September 15, 2019, 04:06:00 PM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.

SeaWalnut

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #10 on: September 15, 2019, 04:12:11 PM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.
Be carefull not to win a Darwin award  :D

These guys have found iguana fossils in Florida .They were living there long before first people arrived so its wrong to consider them invasive.They are native animals to Florida.
http://www.fipr.state.fl.us/about-us/phosphate-primer/fossils-what-they-tell-us-about-floridas-natural-history/
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 04:34:46 PM by SeaWalnut »

Orkine

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #11 on: September 15, 2019, 05:24:01 PM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.
Be carefull not to win a Darwin award  :D

These guys have found iguana fossils in Florida .They were living there long before first people arrived so its wrong to consider them invasive.They are native animals to Florida.
http://www.fipr.state.fl.us/about-us/phosphate-primer/fossils-what-they-tell-us-about-floridas-natural-history/
Possibly true that some iguana may have been in florida in its distant past, but not now.
I am sure that camels are also not native to Florida, and they found camel fossils too (but not the same camels found in the sahara.)

If you look it up, the types of Iguanas (green Iguana) that are a nuisance here now are believed to be non native invasives.  See the link below.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/green-iguana/


SeaWalnut

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #12 on: September 15, 2019, 07:18:58 PM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.
Be carefull not to win a Darwin award  :D

These guys have found iguana fossils in Florida .They were living there long before first people arrived so its wrong to consider them invasive.They are native animals to Florida.
http://www.fipr.state.fl.us/about-us/phosphate-primer/fossils-what-they-tell-us-about-floridas-natural-history/
Possibly true that some iguana may have been in florida in its distant past, but not now.
I am sure that camels are also not native to Florida, and they found camel fossils too (but not the same camels found in the sahara.)

If you look it up, the types of Iguanas (green Iguana) that are a nuisance here now are believed to be non native invasives.  See the link below.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/green-iguana/
The comparison with the camels isnt good ,because the camels are from Africa but iguanas native ranges are really cloose to Florida.They are native to the Carribean so its not too far fetched to find fossils of these exact species of iguanas in Florida.

zands

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #13 on: September 15, 2019, 07:34:42 PM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.

Are a major pestilence and nuisance in some parts of South Florida. Where I live Iguana are not a problem ..... Yet.  But we have  small curly tail lizards that have pushed out the small lizards. The curlies have taken over their ecological niche.

Orkine

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #14 on: September 16, 2019, 12:07:37 AM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.
Be carefull not to win a Darwin award  :D

These guys have found iguana fossils in Florida .They were living there long before first people arrived so its wrong to consider them invasive.They are native animals to Florida.
http://www.fipr.state.fl.us/about-us/phosphate-primer/fossils-what-they-tell-us-about-floridas-natural-history/
Possibly true that some iguana may have been in florida in its distant past, but not now.
I am sure that camels are also not native to Florida, and they found camel fossils too (but not the same camels found in the sahara.)

If you look it up, the types of Iguanas (green Iguana) that are a nuisance here now are believed to be non native invasives.  See the link below.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/reptiles/green-iguana/
The comparison with the camels isn't good ,because the camels are from Africa but iguanas native ranges are really cloose to Florida.They are native to the Carribean so its not too far fetched to find fossils of these exact species of iguanas in Florida.
The humpless camel is native to South America. 

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #15 on: September 16, 2019, 08:54:42 AM »
I had no idea iguanas are such bad news. Good to know and share with others. 11 in one summer? I would have a gun just to shoot them.

And I'm in a neighborhood with small 7500 sq ft lots!  This saturation has happned in the last three or four years along with the ameivas.  Too bad they don't eat one another!  And I'm sorry, Mr. SeaWalnut, you can't tell me this is any kind of ecological balance.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2019, 08:59:16 AM by johnb51 »
John

Botanicus

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #16 on: September 16, 2019, 09:46:57 AM »
The Camel group evolved in North America, moved south & west and disappeared here.

Those Iguanas & Pythons are now as Floridian as you, get used to it.

The terms "Native" &  "Non-Native" have absolutely  no biological meaning whatsoever.

johnb51

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #17 on: September 16, 2019, 11:56:10 AM »
Botanicus, you could also say from a scientific position that climate disruption is now the new normal, so it's also something that we'll have to get used to and adapt to.  The changes will be huge!
John

gnappi

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #18 on: September 16, 2019, 12:10:35 PM »
What's the discussion about? Whether they're now or once were native? Who cares? not me. They eat most everything you put in the ground, crap all over everything and I've dispatched a number in years gone by when they fell out of my trees during a cold snap.

Discharging of firearms is prohibited in most populated areas, a VERY bad and dangerous way to kill them. Trapping or snagging when it's cold out works best then dispatch them whatever way is practical.

In south America I was told that locals call them "chicken of the trees" and larger samples are very food eating.
Regards,

   Gary

Alejandro45

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #19 on: September 16, 2019, 03:05:31 PM »
The Camel group evolved in North America, moved south & west and disappeared here.

Those Iguanas & Pythons are now as Floridian as you, get used to it.

The terms "Native" &  "Non-Native" have absolutely  no biological meaning whatsoever.

One of the best posts I have ever seen, thank you for being a logical person. If you want to see the true and largest cause of mass extinctions and habitat loss we only need to look in the mirror.  Humanities ego is so huge that we took ourselves out of nature's equation and decided to point fingers at animals for infesting

Here is a question. How long does a introduced species need to be established until it becomes native???  Tell me were

The iguanas and pythons and every animal brought here by any means are not doing anything malicious or purposely invading. They are just trying to survive,reproduce , and adapt to were they are. Just like us... For some strange reason many people believe that invaders are ruining the habitat when in reality it's just because they are causing a MINOR inconvenience to their homes that was built on top of the native habitat and gardens of unsurprisingly plants from other continents. 

I can only hope they adapt to our evergrowing townhomes and cities and manage to flourish with our destructive expansion. Imagine how cool iguana floridensis, python floridiana, and amevia Deerfieldsi would be to have! Hahaha


roblack

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #20 on: September 16, 2019, 03:37:55 PM »
LMAO!

Imaging a new Jurassic Park movie, and as they are running for their lives, Jeff Goldblum informs everyone "..actually, T-Rex and the Raptors are the original natives of North America (or wherever they happen to be), you should just get used to it". 

SeaWalnut

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #21 on: September 16, 2019, 03:44:27 PM »
LMAO!

Imaging a new Jurassic Park movie, and as they are running for their lives, Jeff Goldblum informs everyone "..actually, T-Rex and the Raptors are the original natives of North America (or wherever they happen to be), you should just get used to it".
The fossils iguanas found in Florida are of a more recent age than dinosaurs.

zands

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #22 on: September 16, 2019, 04:11:41 PM »
National Guacamole Day 2019 – September 16


U.S.National Guacamole Day 2019 – September 16
It’s not just a side dish anymore.  On National Guacamole Day every September 16, we elevate this tasty green blend into the spotlight.  Guacamole (or “guac”) is made of avocados, which are well-known for the health benefits related to their high vitamin content and lots of cholestoral-lowering healthy fats.  Originally native to Mexico and Central America, avocados  grow on trees.  In fact, avocados are technically considered a fruit!

There are hundreds of ways to pepare guacamole. People spice up their guacamole with onion, garlic, cumin, tomato, cilantro, or even store-bought salsa. Traditionally, guacamole is served with tortilla chips but it’s also good with corn chips, carrot sticks  and celery. Guac is delicious on sandwiches and hamburgers or  in salads. Some people even blend it into smoothies! So, Go Green with guacamole on September 16!

roblack

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #23 on: September 16, 2019, 04:57:15 PM »
LMAO!

Imaging a new Jurassic Park movie, and as they are running for their lives, Jeff Goldblum informs everyone "..actually, T-Rex and the Raptors are the original natives of North America (or wherever they happen to be), you should just get used to it".
The fossils iguanas found in Florida are of a more recent age than dinosaurs.

YES! Goldblum should say that too, as they are eaten.

Botanicus

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Re: It's National Iguana Awareness Day!
« Reply #24 on: September 16, 2019, 05:01:37 PM »
Thank the Gomphothere