These invasive iguanas are no match for an air rifle.
Florida is awash in invasive species these days. One that is continually establishing a larger foothold is the green iguana. Native to South America and the Caribbean, these big lizards have found the sunshine state's climate and habitat much to their liking. That is bad news because they can spread diseases like Salmonella and cause structural problems to buildings with the burrows they dig.
Fortunately, there are some people in Florida working to combat the problem. Airgun hunters now regularly patrol some neighborhoods where the iguanas are starting to establish a larger foothold.
With a little precision shooting, one can make a nice dent in the iguana population in an afternoon. Today's video demonstrates how a typical hunt of these reptiles usually plays out.
That was some fine shooting to drop all these iguanas. These reptiles first started to establish a breeding population back in the 1960s. These days, the problem has become so bad that some people earn a full-time living just from removal and extermination of these big reptiles. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission allows iguanas to be targeted all year-round with no bag limits. The more one can take out, the better.
Obviously, this was not your everyday air rifle setup. Some iguana hunters use some seriously sophisticated rifles to make precision strikes on these animals. Especially in residential areas where there are houses everywhere.
We have mentioned this before, but if you can find a safe area to do it in, this would be a solid way to introduce a new hunter to shooting. Simply because you can work on things like shot placement without worry about maiming a larger big game animal. If your new hunter can take down an iguana cleanly, they will likely be able to do the same for larger animals.
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