When it gets cold in most places, it might snow. When it gets cold in Florida, iguanas drop from trees and, apparently, end up as pizza toppings.
Bucks Coal Fired Pizza in North Palm Beach posted a video on Instagram that shows the shop’s owner, Frankie Cecere, and South Florida fishing content creator Ryan Izquierdo making a pizza topped with bacon, venison, cheese, and bits of iguana.
Izquierdo enjoyed the creation; Cecere did not partake in the pie.
Iguanas don’t do well in the cold. When Florida experiences unusually cold temperatures, the cold-blooded creatures freeze up and can drop from trees. This leaves them vulnerable to passing cars and other animals.
Because green iguanas are an invasive species, some Floridians on February 1 and 2 were collecting the animals to send them to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for humane destruction or adoption. A temporary regulation removed restrictions on removing cold-stunned iguanas from public places during the two-day period.
Florida has anti-cruelty laws that make it illegal to kill iguanas inhumanely or in public places. But landowners can humanely kill the animals on their property and, if they want, may eat them.
Iguana meat is edible and is enjoyed by some in Mexico and throughout Central America — and now Florida.
A representative from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Meat and Poultry Hotline told the Tampa Bay Times that the meat, to be safe, must be processed correctly, but said eating it is a “personal preference.”
Florida wildlife officials collected more than 5,000 cold-stunned iguanas during the two-day collection period. The FWC urged members of the public to collect them from the wild and take them to designated drop-off sites, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“The removal of over 5,000 of these nonnative lizards in such a short time span was only possible thanks to the coordinated efforts of many staff members in multiple FWC divisions and offices, our partners, and of course the many residents that took the time to collect and turn in cold-stunned iguanas from their properties,” FWC Executive Director Roger Young said in a statement.
Some videos on social media showed Floridians posing with the reptiles and even burying themselves in piles of the creatures, but the FWC warns that iguanas can get cranky once they snap out of their cold-stun and recommends the public keep its distance as temperatures rise and the animals return to normal.
“Iguanas can recover from cold-stunning more quickly than you might expect and, once recovered, can act defensively, with long tails that whip and sharp teeth and claws,” the FWC said in a statement.
As for the pizza shop, it doesn’t seem like iguana bits are going to be a staple for future pies. The pizza was made only for the video and wasn’t intended for public consumption.
Izquierdo told the paper that the meat tastes similar to frog legs, calling it a “little sweet” and “very good.”
