BOCA RATON, Fla. — If you live near fresh water in South Florida, chances are green iguanas aren’t far behind.
“It’s a nuisance it drives my wife crazy, but it is what it is” said Colony Resident Matthew Majors.
He said year-round the scaly critters are everywhere
“They’re in my front yard, in my bushes, in my trees,” he added.
Where many see a problem, Pierce Kennamer saw an opportunity and officially started his company Iggy Trap in January.
“Our traps catch anywhere from one to 25 iguanas at a time,” Kennamer said. “We were with FWC in Tallahassee last week on Wednesday they said they haven’t seen a multi-catch trap work this effectively to catch this many iguanas at once.”
His traps are patented multi-catch cages designed to hold the iguanas until they can be humanely euthanized with a captive bolt, he takes care of it all. With confidence, he put one of his Iggy Traps to the test just ahead of our meeting. It didn’t disappoint, catching at least five iguanas in five hours.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission green iguanas can be humanely killed on private property with landowner permission year-round. Residents are already too familiar with why they’ve become a nuisance.
“There’s lots of iguanas and there’s lots of poop,” Majors said.
Both Kennamer and FWC said it’s more dangerous than you’d think.
“Their poop actually carries salmonella,” Kennamer said. “So, if you’re talking about pools, they have salmonella. If they’re in your backyard, that’s something that can get your dog really sick.”
Many reasons to make trapping make sense.
