Cold Iguanas Fall From TreesThe United States is suffering from one of the coldest winters this year and all across the nation, many states are reporting record low temperatures. I think that Iowa has definitely been one of these states to have been hit the hardest, receiving multiple inches of snowfall which caused hundreds of power outages and school closings across the state. Surprisingly to me, even in the "Sunshine State", temperatures are much colder than usual and many of Florida's animal species are suffering.Earlier this week, Florida’s Kamikaze iguanas have been falling out of their perches in trees. This behavior was once believed to be an urban legend in Florida but now it has really taken place. Iguanas were not originally native to the state but were introduced by pet owners who decided to turn them loose in the wild where they adapted and multiplied, becoming one of Florida's most invasive species. These reptiles are used to 80 and 90 degree temperatures and thrive in a warm environment like their native home of South America. However, due to Florida's recent temperature decline earlier this week, the iguanas have gone into a hibernation mode. When the morning temperature on Wednesday reached about 35 degrees, the iguanas simply fell off of their resting places in the tree branches and plummeted down to the ground.Even though the iguanas appear to be lifeless as they lay stiffly on the ground, scientists say that their bodies simply turn off as they go into a sort of hibernation mode though their hearts still pump blood through their system. Once the temperatures reach over 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the iguanas come back to life. Ron Magill of the Miami Metrozoo explained, "It's almost like they go totally to sleep. Generally speaking, if it warms up afterwards, they can recover."It was reported that one Florida man decided to help the fallen iguanas by taking them off the street and putting them in the back of his station wagon. When the car heated up, the iguanas did too. Suddenly, the iguanas began waking up from their coma-like state and starting crawling all over the man, almost causing him to wreck.I thought that this story was very unusual and not something that you would normally expect to happen. I especially thought that it was a little ironic that even Florida is suffering from cold temperatures this winter since it is one of the warmest states in the U.S. Also, regarding the man who put the lizards in his car, I think that people just need to leave them alone when they are like this or it could create bigger problems.Here is a video that a news station used when reporting this story:Website used:
The links work even though you can't see them. Just put your cursor to the end of the line until it changes to a hand and then click on it and it should work.
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