A Florida python cowboy makes a splash with a new strategy for hunting iguanas

The histories of Florida’s endless struggle with invasive species are filled with creative, unique, and bizarre techniques to escape the plight of the noxious marauders.

Barefoot python hunting, robot rabbits, contract killers, DNA testing, specially trained dogs and artificial intelligence traps are all in the arsenal.

By chance, a new method emerged – iguana diving.

Mike Kimmel, who goes by the python cowboy on social media and leads guided iguana hunts, was recorded on video jumping into a eddy of canal water to grab one of the reptiles as it tried to escape aquatically. Sometimes diving in headfirst and using your bare hands is the most efficient and effective way to catch a nuisance lizard, Kimmel said.

And after seeing the feat posted online, Kimmel’s customers keep asking to try their hand at an exclusively Florida experience.

“I get a lot of people who have done everything, they’ve been to Africa, they’re guides themselves, they’ve hunted everywhere, and this is something they haven’t done,” Kimmel said of the iguana plunge. “It’s something new and exciting.”

Kimmel advises her clients on safety and style—no belly flops or cannonballs, or ease on the feet.

“I tell people to go hands first,” Kimmel said. “Sometimes they get nervous and go feet first and you can’t catch the iguana with your feet.”

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Often, the iguanas escape from their perch on the sunny canal bank and jump into the water to escape. Sometimes they are already shot and need to be retrieved from the water. This is a task that Kimmel’s trained dogs can usually perform. He says that when a client chooses to dive for iguanas, he often has to catch curious dogs.

Kimmel, who also runs Burmese python hunts, said the iguana hunts are very popular, probably because it’s also a fun day on a boat in balmy Florida, where the pythons often hang out at night.

“Dipping and coming up to the iguana is a hero moment. It’s been the funnest part of our day, especially on hot summer days,” Kimmel said.

As temperatures plunge in Florida and iguanas fall from trees, temporarily immobilized while it’s a national joke, they’ve become a costly pest. They eat up expensive landscaping, spill into ponds and fill miles of flood-control canals.

Iguanas cannot survive extended days of temperatures colder than about 50 degrees, especially if they come with cloudy skies to prevent them from basking in the sun. But they have been found in northern Florida and the Panhandle, according to reports posted on the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, or EDDMapS.

And there is more potential than recorded. Because iguanas have become as ubiquitous as squirrels in South Florida’s urban landscape, most people stopped seeing them long ago, University of Florida professor Frank Mazzotti said in an August interview.

“For all these invasive species, we don’t really have monitoring programs to see the spread and increase in numbers,” said Mazzotti, who oversees the school’s croc documentation program. “It’s like we’re fighting in the dark.”

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, iguanas are not protected in Florida, except under anti-cruelty laws, and can be humanely killed year-round on private property with landowner permission. People with permits or hunting licenses can also kill them on 32 public lands in the northern areas near Sebring, south of Homestead.

The Lake Worth Drainage District recently contracted with a hunter to remove its canal iguanas.

“They’ve found this perfect urban environment where our canals provide a source of refuge because there aren’t many people disturbing them and they have food sources nearby,” said Tommy Strode, the district’s executive director.

This is also a security issue. District heavy equipment such as dump trucks and excavators operate along the canal. If the iguana burrow collapses, it can cause the equipment to become unbalanced and tip over into the water.

“They’re persistent,” Strode said of the iguanas.

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Still, he’s not sure he’s ready for the iguana dive. Canals can contain random debris, including shopping carts, tree branches, and automobiles.

Kimmel said some of the canals are surprisingly clear and you can see the obstacles in the water and the iguanas.

In addition to giving advice on diving style, Kimmel also suggests clients hold the iguanas by their back legs, which makes it harder for them to turn around and bite or claw at them. He said up to three boats a day could hunt iguanas with people from all over the world, including China, Sweden and Australia. Iguana hunts start at $1,250 for one to six people.

“I’m always amazed at how many people come to hunt us, whether it’s an iguana or a python,” he said.

10% of his clients want to take the plunge. About half of them are successful.

Texans are great at diving, as well as people from Alaska and Montana.

“We have a lot of Amish, too. The Amish are animals,” Kimmel said of their spirited hunting style. “It’s just about everyone having a good time.”

Kimberly Miller is a reporter for the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network in Florida. She covers real estate, climate and environment. Subscribe to Dirt for weekly real estate roundups. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared in the Palm Beach Post: Florida python cowboy dives into water to hunt invasive iguana