Florida Man Finds Hissing Iguana in His Toilet

A man in Florida had a nasty surprise when he went to the toilet, encountering an angry iguana sitting right in the bowl.

The man, named John Riddle, who lives in Hollywood, Florida, found the irate reptile after noticing the door between his pool and the toilet had been left open.

“I thought I was in ‘Jurassic Park’ or something,” Riddle told local news station WSVN. “He was splashing and hissing at me,” he said. “I was scared. I’m not a reptile fan.”

Riddle, aged 58, said he thought the sneaky iguana had crept into his house through the door, which he sometimes leaves open for his dogs.

There are three species of iguana often spotted in Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC): the green iguana, the Mexican spinytail iguana, and the black spinytail iguana. All three are invasive species in Florida, having arrived via the pet trade in the 1960s from their native Central American homelands.

Green iguanas, which can grow up to 5 feet long, are considered a nuisance due to the impacts they can have on native plants and animals, as well as the damage they can do to property.

The FWC states that green iguanas damage local vegetation, eating large amounts of native endangered plant butterfly sage, as well as the major food of the endangered Miami blue butterfly, nickernut/nickerbean.

Known to be strong swimmers, these iguanas are often found in swimming pools—and toilets—and they can transmit salmonella via their droppings. They also dig deep burrows, eroding sidewalks. During cold snaps, iguanas can be found falling from trees, having lost their grip due to the low temperatures.

After his reptilian discovery, Riddle was then faced with the conundrum of how to get the grumpy creature out of his home. He told WSVN that he grabbed a nearby baby gate to prevent it from running into his connecting bedroom while he figured out a plan.

“I came back probably a little less than an hour later, and there he was again, splashing around,” he said. “This was my chance, and I was trying to work up the nerve to grab him and throw him out, but before I did that, he crawled out, and crawled, like, behind the toilet, and that’s when I grabbed the strainer and shooed him out.”

The iguana then dove straight into his pool, eventually climbing out and wandering off into his backyard, unharmed by the ordeal.

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