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It’s So Cold in Florida, Iguanas Are Falling Out of Trees

As near-freezing temperatures reach southern Florida, green iguanas are dropping from the trees, unable to handle the chill. Trappers have been gathering the cold-stunned invasive reptiles by the thousands.

By Alan Taylor
Two men in hi-viz vests hold about a dozen large cold-stunned iguanas in their arms.
Joe Raedle / Getty
From left: Blake Wilkins and Andrew Baron, who are Redline Iguana Removal trappers, unload cold-stunned as well as dead green iguanas from the back of a pickup truck after they collected them during a cold spell on February 2, 2026, in Hollywood, Florida. South Florida has seen back-to-back nights of overnight temperatures in the mid-30s. The cold-blooded invasive species fall from trees when temperatures get too low. Wilkins said that in the past two days, they have collected about 2,500 iguanas, and he has never seen anything like it in his years of trapping.
A cold-stunned iguana lies on a paved road.
Greg Lovett / Palm Beach Post / USA Today / Reuters
A cold-stunned iguana fell from a tree as temperatures dropped to near freezing on February, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Two workers count stunned iguanas.
Thomas Cordy / Palm Beach Post / USA Today / Reuters
Workers count iguanas at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Southeast Field Station at the Tequesta Field Laboratory building in unincorporated Martin County, Florida, on February 2, 2026.
A motionless iguana lies on a lawn.
Matias J. Ocner / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service / Getty
An iguana is seen lying on the ground in a neighborhood as temperatures dip into the 30s on February 1, 2026, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Several stunned and dead iguanas in a bag
Greg Lovett / Palm Beach Post / USA Today / Reuters
A resident walked through a neighborhood picking up dead and cold-stunned iguanas on February, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A man holding a trapping cage leans over to pick up several cold-stunned iguanas.
Joe Raedle / Getty
Blake Wilkins, a Redline Iguana Removal trapper, collects cold-stunned iguanas from a property on February 2, 2026, in Hollywood, Florida.
A man holds up a cold-stunned green iguana.
Joe Raedle / Getty
Blake Wilkins holds up a cold-stunned green iguana on February 2, 2026, in Hollywood, Florida.
A person gathers a half-dozen stunned iguanas from the back of a pickup truck.
Joe Raedle / Getty
A trapper unloads cold-stunned green iguanas from the back of a pickup truck after he collected them during a cold spell in Hollywood, Florida, on February 2, 2026.
Dozens of iguanas, piled in the back of a pickup truck
Joe Raedle / Getty
Cold-stunned and dead iguanas lie in the back of a pickup truck after being collected by Redline Iguana Removal services in Hollywood, Florida, on February 2, 2026.
An iguana lays on the ground in a residential neighborhood.
Matias J. Ocner / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service / Getty
An iguana lies on the ground in a neighborhood as temperatures dip into the 30s across South Florida on February 1, 2026, in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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