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NAFrozen iguanas packed into a dump truck during a Florida cold snap create one of the wildest sights in Naples and Fort Myers. When temperatures in South Florida suddenly drop, invasive green iguanas become cold-stunned and fall from trees across neighborhoods, parks, golf courses, and canal banks. The cold paralyzes their muscles, causing them to drop in huge numbers overnight. Crews load the iguanas into trucks like this, stacking them from front to back as the cold front sweeps through Southwest Florida.
A pile of frozen iguanas this large is a direct result of the rapid temperature swing that hits the region every few years. Iguanas are not native to Florida, and the species struggles whenever cold air pushes into Collier County, Lee County, Miami-Dade, and Broward. The sudden freeze creates massive iguana drops across Naples, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Marco Island, and Miami, leading to scenes that look unreal to anyone outside the state.
Cold-stunned iguanas appear completely lifeless, but many will thaw and regain movement once sunlight returns. The overwhelming number collected during a strong cold snap shows how quickly populations have expanded across Southwest Florida. Trucks filled with frozen iguanas have become a recognizable symbol of winter weather in Florida’s subtropical climate.
Palm trees, gray skies, soaked pavement, and a mountain of iguanas highlight the extreme contrast of Florida wildlife reacting to a rare cold blast. The invasive population continues to grow, and every unexpected temperature drop creates another wave of cold-stunned reptiles across beaches, backyards, golf courses, and urban areas.
Florida’s winter events don’t bring snow, they bring falling iguanas stacked by the hundreds. A cold snap in Naples or Fort Myers transforms the landscape into something that feels surreal, unpredictable, and unmistakably Floridian.
#Florida #NaplesFlorida #FortMyers #SouthwestFlorida #Iguanas
@naples.florida.life
