It Was Raining Iguanas Thursday in Florida

Cold temperatures froze the lizards, sending them tumbling out of trees
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 4, 2018 7:05 PM CST
Updated Jan 7, 2018 3:10 PM CST
It Was Raining Iguanas Thursday in Florida
An iguana that froze lies near a pool after falling from a tree in Boca Raton, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018.   (Frank Cerabino/Palm Beach Post via AP)

How bonkers was the weather in Florida? It was raining iguanas. The AP reports temperatures in parts of South Florida were below 40 degrees Thursday—well cold enough to freeze iguanas, which aren't native to the area. “They’ll fall out of trees. They’ll end up in areas where your cars are, parking lots, areas where they’re cold stunned,” Emily Maple, reptile keeper at the Palm Beach County Zoo, tells CBS12. "It's too cold for them to move," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Kristen Sommers adds to the AP.

But the lizards aren't necessarily dead. "They’re still able to breathe. They’re still able to do bodily functions just very slow,” Maple tells CBS12. She adds the iguanas will revive and get more active if temperatures increase. But more than two days of sub-45 degrees, and they'll likely die, typically from pneumonia. Maple says people can move the iguanas into the sun or out of the road "if you feel comfortable." Meanwhile, the Wildlife Conservation Commission rescued around 100 sea turtles stunned by cold waters Thursday, the Miami Herald reports. (More iguana stories.)

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