The legality of iguana hunting in Southwest Florida

The canals throughout Cape Coral are known mainly for fishing and boating; however, the waterways have also become the primary home for green iguanas.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, green iguanas are not native to Florida and are considered an invasive species due to their impacts on native wildlife.

Due to the vast population of these species and the harm they cause to residential property and the ecosystem, two men from Cape Coral are working to lower the iguana population by hunting them.

Cameron Kersey and Daniel Post founded the Lizard Kings, an iguana-hunting business.

Their interest in starting an iguana-hunting business began on a normal fishing day about three years ago.

“We were out bass fishing and came across probably about 90 iguanas right over by the Cape Coral police station,” said Post. I turned and looked at Cam, and I knew they were invasive. I knew their problem, and we might have a bigger issue here.”

In May 2021, the two Cape Coral natives launched Lizard Kings, averaging over 400 hunts per year and killing hundreds of Iguanas throughout the canals in Cape Coral.

Their purpose is to kill Iguanas and, most importantly, educate those who may question or speculate on their work.

“We don’t just advertise an iguana hunt,” said Kersey. We advertise an iguana hunt with education on what these iguanas are doing to our ecosystem, properties, and landscapes all over Florida from central to south.”

The green iguana is known to cause extensive damage to seawalls along canal banks, where it lives for shelter and survival.

“You’ve got several different iguanas burrowing holes and individual holes behind the seawall,” said Kersey. They burrow through the foundation of the seawall to the point where you get so many iguanas burrowing so many holes behind that seawall that your seawall will buckle and start to crack, corrode, and crumble into the canal.”

The price of repairing a seawall can be costly for homeowners.

“You’re looking at about $70,000 for a new seawall,” said Post. “It’s hard to come out of pocket for that.”

To better protect your seawalls from damage, iguana experts like Cameron and Daniel kill them with different air rifles on mostly public property.

Their business is an authorized dealer of SIG Sauer airguns and 93 other airgun brands, which are legally used to hunt and kill iguanas.

The perception of the rifles themselves can sometimes leave a negative impression among Cape Coral residents due to the rifle’s appearance.

Some air rifles can sometimes be mistaken for AR-15 rifles. Danial says they put a special tapping around the barrel to signify the air rifle.

“The biggest concern we run into is people who don’t know what we’re doing,” said Post. We keep red tape on the end of the barrel, just like with your BB guns or your airsoft guns—they’ve got the orange tip—this helps people not get the wrong idea.”

Both experts told WINK News that hunters must get the landlord’s permission to hunt on private property.

“If we get permission from the landowner, everything that we hunt is on open vacant lots,” said Post. “So that’s kind of one of those things is picking and choosing your spots to actually hunt on.”

According to the FWC, green iguanas are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law and can be humanely killed on private property with landowner permission.

This species can be captured and humanely killed year-round and without a permit or hunting license on 32 public lands in South Florida.

Some may wonder what hunters can use a dead iguana for. Well, for several things. After each hunt, the Lizard Kings barbeque iguanas and sell their meat for profit.

Check out their website to learn more about the Lizard Kings and how to book a hunt and boat trip with them.