Florida winters are full of surprises, but longtime residents know to let “sleeping” iguanas lie.
While the Sunshine State is renowned for its unseasonably warm winter months, Mother Nature still occasionally plunges Floridians toward near-freezing territory, and some of the nation’s most southeastern lizards have a difficult time maintaining their tree-level perches.
According to The Associated Press, the invasive species enter a survival mode akin to suspended animation when the temperature dips below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 4 degrees Celsius. The cold-stunned lizards then fall to the ground but usually revive when the sun’s rays warm them up.
Needless to say, the scenes across some South Florida neighborhoods Sunday morning were quite startling to newcomers and par for the course for longtime residents.