Do you have a favorite animal — one you resonate with, who brings you joy just by existing? Maybe they offer companionship. Maybe you simply love seeing them in the wild.
Now imagine thousands of them being hunted down. Imagine them surrounded, with nowhere to go, watching what happens to others before it happens to them. Imagine suffering before death — all because people decided they don’t belong.
That is what is happening in Florida to green iguanas and Burmese pythons.
Let me make this short, because my blood is boiling.
There are people who think if an animal isn’t furry, feathered, or a photogenic ocean mammal, it isn’t “cute.”
There are people who think only dogs and cats have personalities.
There are people who think reptiles are dumb — incapable of bonding, incapable of intelligence, incapable of fear or suffering.
Why?
I’ve lived with lizards. I’ve seen curiosity, recognition, preference, stubbornness, affection. Every being is an individual. I don’t just believe that — I’ve witnessed it.
And yet, in Florida, thousands of iguanas are being killed — sometimes collected after cold snaps, sometimes shot on sight. One recent report described iguanas that had fallen from trees during cold weather being “run over by shopping carts in parking lots” as they lay immobilized. AND BYSTANDERS WERE CHEERING THEM ON!! WHAT THE F___??!! How are there this many people with evil in their hearts? That image alone should make us pause. Is this really how we treat living beings?
Being ectothermic, when lizards get too cold they can’t hold on to things, like insects, they can barely move or not at all until they become warmer. I say these poikilotherms are lizards from heaven.
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Burmese pythons face a similar fate. The state encourages their killing as an invasive species. In one widely reported case, a pregnant python was captured (there’s been many more than one, actually); authorities later counted dozens of developing eggs inside her. She and her unborn young were destroyed as part of eradication efforts. We’re told this is necessary.
The justification is always the same: they are invasive. They disrupt ecosystems. They threaten native species.
But whose fault is it that they are here?
These animals did not charter boats or book flights to Florida. They were brought here through the exotic pet trade and human irresponsibility. Humans altered ecosystems. Humans released or lost them. And now the animals pay with their lives.
And here’s the uncomfortable question:
If the invasive species were fluffy kittens, would we tolerate mass hunts? Would we organize competitions? Would we normalize shooting them in public spaces? Or would we find sanctuaries, relocation programs, non-lethal management?
When the species lacks fur, society’s empathy seems to evaporate.
We use the word “humanely.” Agencies say pythons and iguanas must be killed “humanely.” But humane to whom? Humane compared to what? Humane does not mean painless. Humane does not mean without fear.
These animals are not villains. They are not evil. They are surviving.
We are the only species in this story that engineered the problem — and yet they bear the consequences.
You don’t have to deny ecological science to ask for compassion. You don’t have to ignore environmental damage to question whether mass killing is the only moral imagination we can muster.
If we truly believe intelligence and emotional capacity determine worth, we should be very careful — because many reptiles are far more aware than people assume.
And every life we dismiss says more about us than it does about them.
I typed “Green Iguanas hit with shopping carts” into IG’s search engine. I didn’t find what was paraphrased above, but there’s some other awful things, you can see for yourself by typing the same query.
A quick note: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) states (not verbatim) that a person can kill reptiles with a firearm (on private land), or other methods such as pellet guns and pneumatic air guns there and elsewhere, but that the brain must be destroyed to avoid animal cruelty. How many people don’t have proper training and good aim? I propose that there is an amazing and terrible amount of suffering.
Sources and reading material:
and some snippits from that:
- 2012 Record: A 17-foot-7-inch, 164-lb python carrying 87 eggs was found in Everglades National Park.
- 2017 Record: Hunter Jason Leon captured a 17-foot, 130-lb python, which he shot and killed.
- 2019/2022 Finds: Several other 16–17+ foot females, including one with 73 eggs in Big Cypress (2019) and another with over 120 eggs (2022), were removed and euthanized.
- Method: “Judas snakes” (tagged males) are used to track these large, breeding females.
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What might Lil’ Murph say?
“Give me Lizardry or give me Death!” ❤️Murph & Dawn
LizardPlanet.com 
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