Cape Coral residents battle iguana takeover
CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WFLA) — Residents in a Cape Coral neighborhood are battling an unusual infestation: huge iguanas.
NBC affiliate Gulf Coast News reported that one house has been vacant since Hurricane Ian in 2022, and since then, iguanas have arrived by the dozens, and nothing seems to help.
WATCH: Crews spot alligator living in storm water pipe
One neighbor, Rick Wheeler, said he's killed over 20, but they keep coming back.
'At any point in time, you can see 10, 15 iguanas outside,' he told Gulf Coast News.
Green iguanas are invasive and now number in the thousands across South Florida. Like other invasive reptiles, you can humanely kill iguanas on your property year-round.
Manatee dies while receiving medical care at Florida state park: report
Photos and video shows iguanas covering the property outside, hanging out on the roof and even peeking through the windows from inside the house.
They aren't small either, Wheeler caught one that measured almost six feet long.
But the city says because its a nuisance and not a public safety concern, they won't use tax dollars to address the problem.
Neighbors are concerned that if nothing is done, the iguanas will continue to spread through the neighborhood.
Here are some tips from the Fish and Wildlife Commission to help deter iguanas from your property.
Removing plants that act as attractants, like fruits and flowers
Filling in holes to discourage burrowing
Hanging wind chimes or other items that make intermittent noises
Hanging CDs that have reflective surfaces
Spraying the animals with water as a deterrent
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Washington mom believes an Amber Alert may have saved her 3 daughters
The mother of three girls who officials say were killed by their father is calling for reforms to Washington state's Amber Alert system after her daughters' bodies were discovered and as officials search for the man. Whitney Decker believes her daughters may still be alive had the Washington State Patrol issued an Amber alert for them last week, her attorney told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle on Thursday. 'It's very important to Whitney to get that fixed,' said attorney Arianna Cozart. Evelyn, 8, Paityn, 9, and Olivia Decker, 5, were found dead on Monday, several days after their mother reported them missing. Their father, Travis Decker, 32, is wanted on first-degree murder charges in connection with the killings. Authorities began searching for the girls Friday night after Whitney Decker filed a complaint that her ex-husband did not return the children after a planned visit, according to police. Washington State Patrol issued an Endangered Missing Persons Advisory for the girls on Saturday. Unlike an Amber alert, the advisory does not send a text message to all cell phones in the surrounding area about the missing children. A spokesperson for the Washington State Patrol did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday. Cozart said that her client's ex-husband had mental health issues and that local police relayed his illness to Washington State Patrol while pushing for an Amber alert unsuccessfully. Court documents show that Whitney Decker told detectives she agreed to a parenting plan with her ex-husband in September. However, he refused to sign the document after he became homeless, according to the affidavit. The agreement was contingent on Travis Decker seeking mental health treatment and domestic violence anger-management counseling, according to the affidavit. The military veteran never did, according to court documents. The three girls were found zip-tied and with plastic bags over their heads near a campground in a remote part of the state, roughly 130 miles east of Seattle, according to the court document. It is unclear if Travis Decker is armed, but officials said he is considered dangerous. Authorities said relatives informed them that Travis Decker has skills to survive outdoors for long stretches and would sometimes go 'off-grid' for months. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Is it time to talk impeachment? Given Trump's actions, it may be overdue.
In the few months since Donald Trump returned to the presidency, he has issued so many executive orders and pronouncements on domestic and foreign policy that he may have overwhelmed our intellectual and emotional energy to fully appreciate their impact. Whether or not you approve of the direction he wants to take the country, he took office after being duly elected. Many of his initiatives are within his authority. Generally speaking, Trump has the right to indulge his ideological obsessions and advance policies that benefit the economic class that 'brung him to the dance.' But, what of those executive orders that exceed the limited authority proscribed for the presidency — powers meant to be shared with other branches of government, or those that defy Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution? Say goodbye to democracy — and our freedoms — if we ignore James Madison's warning in the Federalist Papers No. 47 that "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump took the Presidential Oath of Office to 'faithfully execute the Office of President' and 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Yet just three months later, when asked if he agreed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that every person in the United States is entitled to due process, Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker that he's not so sure. 'I don't know. I'm not a lawyer.' The Constitution states that 'no person' shall be 'deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' It says 'person,' not 'citizen.' Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court has held that everyone in this country have certain basic rights. When Welker reminded the president of this constitutionally guaranteed right, Trump complained that this only slows him down: 'I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it.' This helps explain why democracy requires an independent judiciary — to check the actions of the executive (from local police to presidents) to ensure that government allegations of wrongdoing are accurate and mistakes are not made. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the recent high-profile example, is Salvadoran, married to an American citizen with three American-born children who has lived in U.S. since 2011. He was granted protected status by an immigration judge in 2019. Nevertheless he was detained by ICE in March and deported to El Salvador without a hearing. The Trump administration originally acknowledged that he was mistakenly deported, and a federal judge ordered that he be returned to the U.S. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld this directive. As of this writing the Trump administration has done nothing to facilitate his return. The President even quipped that he could do so, but he will not. The government now asserts that Abrego Garcia's deportation wasn't a mistake, claiming he is a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, but declines to provide evidence supporting the claim. As if to emphasize contempt for constitutional rights, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller recently said that the Trump administration was considering suspending Habeas Corpus to block an immigrant's right to challenge their detention before being deported. There are other examples of presidential defiance of the law, such as the illegal impoundment of congressionally authorized appropriations and constitutional freedoms. So, it is time to insert the 'I' word (impeachment) into civic conversations. I am not naïve: impeachment is neither imminent nor likely — for now. The disgrace of this period, as future historians will note, is that whether the President has intimidated Congress into silence or they applaud his overly expansive use of power, the legislative branch has abandoned its oversight responsibility. For now, Congress is content to look the other way. Nevertheless, we must begin to insert 'impeachable offenses' into civic conversations. If we don't, we will be complicit in accepting that the aberrant behavior of this President is the new normal for the evaluation of future presidents. Howard L. Simon served as executive director of the ACLU of Florida from 1997-2018. He resides in Gainesville and is president of Clean Okeechobee Waters Foundation, Inc. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Talk of impeachment hasn't come up. How long can that last? | Opinion
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
How much is Andrew Cuomo's rent? He's given three answers
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo has given a couple of different answers when asked how much he pays for rent — including on Wednesday night during a chaotic Democratic mayoral primary debate. Cuomo, the frontrunner in the June 24 primary, told moderators that he was forking over $7,800 monthly as he scribbled on a pad of paper during the lightning round of questions at the fiery NBC-Politico forum held at 30 Rockefeller Center Plaza. That was the third figure the veteran politician has offered in recent months about the cost to live in his luxury Manhattan apartment, located near Sutton Place. When The Post reviewed Cuomo's lease earlier this year, it was listed at $8,200 and he paid just over $8,000 to start. He told the New York Times earlier this week that his rent had just jumped to about $8,000 per month. Cuomo has been labeled a carpetbagger by critics after it came to light he only registered to vote in the city last fall. He also only started living full-time in the city since the fall after splitting time between Westchester County and Manhattan. Cuomo initially lived in the Midtown East apartment with one of his daughters, before she moved out as hear dad geared up for his comeback bid for mayor, which he announced March 2. The other candidates said during the debate they either rented or owned their homes across the Big Apple – though their monthly payments were lower than Cuomo's. Here's what the rest of the candidates for the Democratic nod said they pay for housing: City Comptroller Brad Lander: $3,300 City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams: 'Our home is paid. I'm a homeowner.' State Sen. Zellnor Myrie: $1,300 State Sen. Jessica Ramos: $2,500 Former City Comptroller Scott Stringer: $6,400 State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani: $2,300 Rev. Michael Blake: $1,800 Financier Whitney Tilson: Owns but pays $5,000 in upkeep and taxes One of the pressing issues brought up numerous times during the debate, was how to make housing in the city more affordable — with candidates detailing various plans.
