Neighbors worried as iguanas invade SE Cape Coral

More and more iguanas are now roaming through Cape Coral. Neighbors say this invasive species is damaging their sea walls. But how do they deal with this?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says you can capture or kill iguanas on your property, as long as you do so humanely. However, some neighbors want professionals to handle the green iguanas, so people don’t have to take matters into their own hands.

Neighbors in southeast Cape Coral say green iguanas are making themselves at home by scurrying into canals and backyards.

Donald Levinson lives in SE Cape. “This is the most we’ve seen in a while. We will see  8 or 10 on our deck at a time,” said Levinson.

John Stroble lives there as well. “I don’t think there’s any control. They just keep multiplying,” said Stroble.

Neighbors say these iguanas are a problem for two reasons: One, they leave messes but they also dig holes that could damage the homeowners’ property.

“They do dig down in your seawall and with all the sea wall releases we had three to four years ago it’s a concern,” Levinson said. “I can see some of my neighbors’ walls that are looking in bad repair and you can tell where there are divots behind them where the iguanas have lived.”

Green iguanas are an invasive species so, FWC says, neighbors can get them off of private property by capturing or even killing them, as long as they do so in a humane way.

But, some neighbors say they’d like to see the city send in professionals to get rid of these unwanted guests.

“It’s the neighbors with pellet guns that shoot around at them that are more of a concern for me rather than just the abatement people coming and dealing with it,” Levinson said.

“Maybe they should trap them and remove them some type of a habitat,” said Stroble.

Neighbors hope that their habitat is far away from these homes and their sea walls.

WINK News reached out to The City of Cape Coral to see if it can do anything to control the iguana population. They referred us to FWC.

FWC says you can hire a professional trapper to remove the iguanas or any other nuisance animals from your property. To do so and to see a list of their wildlife trappers, you can follow this link.