Florida man uses ‘cold-stunned’ iguanas as ‘blankets’ in bizarre viral video

A rare winter cold snap sweeping across Florida has left large numbers of green iguanas, a non-native cold-blooded species, temporarily immobilized and falling from trees as temperatures dropped into the 30s. Some unusual footage has drawn attention online. Influencer @stackz posted a video on Feb. 1 joking that he was trying to sleep under a pile of cold-stunned iguanas, creating what appeared to be a “blanket” of the reptiles. The iguanas were easy to capture because they were in a state of torpor, temporarily losing muscle control. In the video, @stackz said he did not kill the iguanas, adding, “We love everything with a heartbeat.”Iguanas become “cold-stunned” when air temperatures near or fall below freezing, causing them to lose muscle control and fall from branches in a motionless state.In South Florida, residents have been collecting these stunned reptiles and bringing them to facilities run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The FWC issued a temporary order allowing the public to capture and transport cold-stunned green iguanas without a permit during the freeze, a change from normal rules that restrict possession and movement of the invasive species.