When Will It Start Raining Again
If you're looking to accept a myth debunked, you lot've come up to the wrong identify. "Frozen Iguanas Falling From Florida Trees" is neither the name of a schlocky B-rated horror flick nor an urban fable. It's something that really happens, which, if you're a Floridian yourself, you lot might be somewhat familiar with. Just the rest of u.s.a. may merely be getting used to the fact that information technology rains more than cats and dogs in The Sunshine Country. In add-on to hurricanes and alligators, there's another class of reptilian precipitation to watch out for.
Merely just why does this phenomenon happen? The short answer is that iguanas simply don't belong in Florida; they're non native to the state, and those living there aren't used to the extremes of Florida weather yet. But at that place's a longer answer, and information technology's a fascinating tale of invasive species, animal physiology and one of the strangest conditions reports you lot'll ever see.
Iguanas Are Cold-Blooded, Which Induces Sluggishness
When a creature is cold-blooded, its body temperature changes forth with shifts in the ambient temperature that occur in the air around the animate being. This lies in contrast to warm-blooded animals, which are able to maintain internal body temperatures college than those of their environs due to their differing metabolic processes. Snakes, crocodiles, alligators, turtles and lizards, all of which are reptiles, are generally cold-blooded. When temperatures around them driblet, so does their internal temperature. This process also happens to iguanas — even the iguanas that call Florida domicile.
As the temperature in the air — and, thus, the iguanas' blood — drops, they get increasingly inactive. When external temps reach about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, iguanas exposed to these atmospheric condition enter a stunned or dormant land. They'll gradually go so sluggish and so immobilized that they may await expressionless — but aren't. These lethargic lizards are actually withal breathing, and all their bodily functions are standing. But those functions are taking place much more slowly considering the iguanas' blood is moving around their bodies at a greatly reduced charge per unit.
That said, if it stays in the 40s longer than 8 hours, those persistent common cold temperatures can become fatal to iguanas. But merely how cold does information technology have to be to trigger lethargic responses? That depends. Ron Magill, Zoo Miami's communications director, told CNN, "The temperature threshold for when iguanas begin to go into a dormant state depends greatly on the size of the iguana… Generally speaking, the larger the iguana, the more cold it can tolerate for longer periods." That may have to do with the fact that the larger lizards have more blood in their bodies and so they tin can retain warmth in their blood a bit longer than the smaller reptiles.
The Lizards Are Diurnal — and They Accept Unconventional Sleeping Spots
There may not exist many things that people and iguanas take in common, but the period of fourth dimension when they're awake each day is one. Diurnal animals similar iguanas are agile during daylight hours and inactive at dark when they sleep or residue. Because iguanas are already tedious or sleeping at nighttime when temperatures are well-nigh likely to reach their lowest points, that's when iguanas are most vulnerable to the lethargy-inducing effects of a cold snap. The nighttime temperatures and the cold ambient temperatures compound.
There'due south one more affair nearly iguanas' diurnal nature to know most, though. It's where they tend to sleep that matters — and that leads to "iguana rain." Iguanas typically wander the ground or stay slightly secluded in brushy areas during the day. Just they then sleep up in the relative safety of tree branches.
A typical slumbering iguana is perfectly capable of remaining safety and secure in a tree until morning. However, when iguanas are rendered lethargic or comatose by cold temperatures, their immobility causes them to lose their grip on the branches. Iguanas that succumb to the coldest overnight temperatures in Florida only autumn out of bed — and onto the footing to exist found by startled Floridians when the sun rises.
They're Invasive and Aren't Suited for Florida'south Climate
One might think that iguanas would've evolved to deal with Florida's temperatures without going through this issue — they're native to rainforests, after all. But fifty-fifty if that were unremarkably the case, at that place are a few factors working against iguanas in this regard.
First, temperatures low enough to trigger this effect are pretty uncommon in Florida, so the lizards aren't exposed to these dips often enough to develop any kind of evolutionary response. Low lows happen occasionally — it's frequently January when they exercise occur — but Florida temperatures in the 40s are by far the exception rather than the rule.
While Florida does accept a pocket-size number of native iguana species, the vast majority of these lizards in Florida — including the most common green iguana, a species that'due south helpfully named Iguana iguana — aren't native to Florida at all. They're actually invasive, then they haven't adapted to the land'south (very) occasional chilly atmospheric condition.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in that location are over 40 non-native iguanas and relatives calling The Sunshine State abode. These transplants were introduced to Florida equally a effect of the pet trade. In 1995 alone, over 800,000 greenish iguanas were imported into the Us from their native homelands — much warmer countries like Honduras, El salvador, Panama and Colombia. Over time, so many iguanas escaped or were released by pet owners into the wild that they established a presence throughout the state.
No, That Iguana Is (Probably) Not Dead
In near cases, an iguana that you might detect lying on the footing under a tree first thing in the morning isn't expressionless and won't die from the common cold snap. Rather, it'southward just immobilized or comatose due to the cold. As the temperatures increase around the iguana and it's exposed to sunshine, the iguana's blood temperature volition increase, too.
Gradually, the iguana will become more energetic and scamper away. Equally the Miami Zoo's communications managing director mentioned, though, very cold temperatures can kill small iguanas, only many simply shake off the common cold (and whatever falls from copse) with the inflow of warmer temperatures and sunshine.
With this in mind, information technology probably won't be so startling next time y'all hear about atmospheric condition forecasts — yes, the Miami National Weather condition Service has issued them before — for raining iguanas in Florida. In addition to having the do good of this general introduction to the reptile-related implications of cold snaps, though, you tin can sometimes count on Florida weather forecasters to give you all the information you demand even if some of it is definitely non information you want. (Check out this story about a Florida weather condition forecast that went way beyond the probability of precipitation, humidity and expected high and depression temps.)
And then, if you e'er should hear the telltale slap of an iguana hit the ground in the cool temperatures of a January Florida dark, don't exist alarmed. Iguana rain is normal. Weird, simply normal.
Source: https://www.reference.com/science/why-rain-iguanas-florida?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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