Florida
Iguana Found Stuck in Florida's Resort Water Slide Alongside 30 Eggs in 'Unusual' Removal Job
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(748x424:750x426)/iguana-stuck-in-pool-tout-042424-eed2cd4decfd4609a51c1d26a961b89b.jpg?ssl=1 "Iguana Found Stuck in Florida's Resort Water Slide Alongside 30 Eggs in 'Unusual' Removal Job")
A female iguana is free again after an “unusual” encounter with a water slide.
On April 19, Humane Iguana Control, an iguana removal company in southern Florida, received a call about a female iguana found inside a pool slide jet at a Miami-Dade resort. The resort also found numerous iguana eggs at the bottom of the pool connected to the slide.
“When we got the call, we dropped everything we were doing and rushed to the location,” Michael Ronquillo from Humane Iguana Control told WFLA. Humane Iguana Control also shared photos and videos from the incident on Facebook, noting that the slide situation was “a first for us.”
“This was one of the most unusual iguana removal jobs we have come across,” Humane Iguana Control shared in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Courtesy of Humane Iguana Control
“Upon arrival, the iguana managed to find its way out of the jet, and we were able to remove the iguana eggs swiftly. We’re not sure how the iguana eggs ended up in that pool! During this time of year, which is breeding season, female iguanas will lay their eggs in burrows, but at times, they will randomly lay their eggs in strange places,” the company added.
On social media, Humane Iguana Control shared photos of the iguana eggs its employees found scattered underwater at the bottom of the pool and a shot of the iguana trapped inside the pool slide.
In its Facebook video, Humane Iguana Control noted that employees checked the pool’s pipes with an endoscopy camera “to make sure” all creatures were cleared from the area before gathering the eggs.
Humane Iguana Control collected around 30 iguana eggs from the pool. Ronquillo told WSVN that it is unclear how the eggs ended up in the pool while the iguana was in the slide, but he shared a theory.
“Our guess is [the iguana laid] them around the slide area, and the eggs just rolled down from the slide, so that’s pretty much how they ended up in that area,” he said.
In its statement to PEOPLE, Humane Iguana Control noted the iguanas, an invasive species in Florida, are a common problem in South Florida, “just like roaches would be throughout the USA.”
Courtesy of Humane Iguana Control
“You will most likely come across an iguana in or around your property, and no property is safe from this invasive species,” Humane Iguana Control shared about the situation in South Florida.
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Humane Iguana Control also recommended that Florida residents do not try to remove iguanas from their homes alone.
“If you do not have experience handling these reptiles, you may get injured due to their sharp nails and teeth; also, their tails can whip at speeds of 30 mph! If you come across an iguana burrow, you should not cover it until it is inspected for iguanas and their eggs,” the company advised.
To learn more about iguanas and how to handle encounters with these reptiles, visit Humane Iguana Control’s website.
Florida
Area to watch for tropical development in Gulf to bring downpours to drought-stricken Florida | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather
Area to watch for tropical development in Gulf to bring downpours to drought-stricken Florida
While this area to watch for tropical development may not actually become tropical, it will definitely bring rain to Florida, which desperately needs it. The system is likely to bring the most significant rain to the Florida panhandle down south to Tampa, but the entire state can expect some moisture through midweek next week.
Gulf system to bring downpours to Florida
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber is continuing to watch an area in the Gulf that is expected to bring much-needed rain to Florida this weekend. He said the system will likely drift to the north and northwest and will linger before heading to the northeast. He said to get a tropical depression, or a tropical storm there needs to be winds and a closed low and he is not seeing that in the models yet. Weber is also tracking a system off the coast of Africa that has a 10% chance of developing over the next week. He says it will likely enter a hostile environment and dissipate.
TAMPA, Fla. – Forecasters are tracking a broad disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast that could bring much-needed rain to parched communities this weekend.
Gulf tropical development potential
What we know:
Models continue to indicate there is a potential for an area of low pressure to form over the northeast Gulf off the west coast of Florida over the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center says an area in the Gulf has a 30% chance of tropical development over the next seven days.
Models a shifting away from the forecast of the system moving over the state and off the coast of the Carolinas. Models are now indicating a more likely scenario that it lingers in the Gulf over the weekend and may drift more to the northwest near the Florida Panhandle or Louisiana coast. Early next week conditions look like they will become less conducive and may prohibit much development. Regardless of whether it organizes, the system will bring tropical downpours and increased moisture across Florida and parts of the Southeast.
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber states we are close to 7.50″ below average on our rainfall in Tampa for the year. A weak area of low pressure or tropical system can be beneficial in helping to make up for the rainfall deficit we have been experiencing. Drought conditions continue over much of the state of Florida. If this system ends up drifting more westward, it would limit the total amount of rainfall and the highest totals would be along the immediate west coast.
Atlantic tropical development potential
A tropical wave southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands remains disorganized.
It is moving west-northwest and, according to the NHC, there is a chance for slow development over the next day or two. By the weekend it is expected to move into less conducive conditions and Saharan dust will begin to affect this wave, limiting its moisture. The time for this system to develop is very limited and will not develop after the weekend.
The NHC is giving it a 10% chance of developing.
Weather factors and storm names
What we don’t know:
Officials cannot yet confirm if the disturbance will overcome environmental hurdles like land interaction, wind shear and dry air. Computer models remain uncertain on how much this system will develop over the waters of the Gulf. If it stays over the warm waters of the Gulf longer, it may give it additional time to organize. Interactions with land and wind shear will likely pose obstacles in further development.
To become a tropical system, it must develop a defined circulation with organized thunderstorms. If it reaches maximum sustained winds of 39 mph, it will become a tropical storm and be named Bertha.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13Meteorologist Jim Weber, the National Hurricane Center tropical weather outlooks, as well as forecast computer models.
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