It's not the usual kind of alert sent by the National Weather Service, but with temperatures set to dip into the 30s and 40s last night (January 21st) in Florida, the NWS in Miami sent a warning to state residents yesterday about falling iguanas. The office tweeted: "Don't be surprised if you see iguanas falling from the trees tonight." Iguanas are cold-blooded and don't handle cold temperatures very well, getting sluggish or lethargic once it goes below 50 degrees, and they go dormant when it's colder than 45 degrees. Iguanas often sleep in trees, so when they go dormant, they can fall out of them onto streets, cars or even people. An adult male can weigh up to 20 pounds, so it could be dangerous if they fall on someone. Iguanas aren't dead when they're dormant, but if the temperatures remain in the 40s for over eight hours, a significant number of them will die.
It's not the first time this has happened...