Iguana removal for resorts and hotels is imperative to keep patrons safe and to protect the business. Throughout South Florida are prime destinations for visitors worldwide. The year-round climate is ideal for enjoying the tropical atmosphere and beautiful scenery. However, one common problem these places face is the invasion of green iguanas. Tourists find these scaly reptiles interesting, but for hotels and resorts, they’re a significant issue. The time spent replacing plants eaten by iguanas and cleaning up their droppings has become wearisome. Therefore hotel and resort managers have turned to hire professional iguana removal companies, relieving them of the tedious task of scaring iguanas away. While iguanas might be fascinating reptiles, they have no place in these vacation paradises.
Why Iguanas Stick Around Hotels & Resorts
When visiting hotels and resorts, you’ll notice an abundance of tropical plants thriving in South Florida’s climate, many of which iguanas love to eat, being herbivores. Hibiscus and bougainvillea are two of their favorites due to their soft leaves and flowers. Once iguanas spot colorful flowers on certain plants, they’ll approach to see if they’re good to eat. Orchids are no exception; these flowering plants stand little chance of displaying their beauty if iguanas are around. Since many of these relaxing destinations feature swimming pools, iguanas also find a convenient water source there. You’ll often spot iguanas in pools regulating their body temperatures or lounging around the pool deck to warm up on the hot surface. Along with these food sources, if tourists feed the sneaky reptiles, they’re bound to stay. As a professional iguana removal company, we always advise hotel and resort management teams to put up signs stating, “DO NOT FEED IGUANAS.
Health Risks & Potential Bodily Harm
While iguanas roam around properties, they leave behind a little gift: iguana poop! Unsightly, disgusting, and hazardous are some words hotel and resort staff use to describe the droppings. Imagine enjoying brunch on a beautiful sunny day when suddenly, a watery, mushy substance falls on you or your plate of food! This is the reality of having iguanas on these properties. As iguanas sunbathe on coconut trees, they also defecate, splattering whatever or whoever is below. It’s common for this to occur near swimming pools and jacuzzis. The time spent checking and cleaning these areas places a tremendous burden on staff, who have other tasks to fulfill. Iguana droppings carry salmonella bacteria, making cautious cleaning essential.
Tourists should be discouraged from feeding iguanas because of potential harm. Iguanas have razor-sharp teeth that can easily cut flesh, and it’s very possible to get bitten while hand-feeding them. While many snowbirds escape the northern states’ cold and snow, they may not realize that we have a unique event here in winter: falling iguana season. Yes, iguanas fall out of trees when temperatures drop into the 40s. Once the temperature hits 45°F, these cold-blooded reptiles drop. To avoid these risks, hotels and resorts should implement iguana control and prevention measures.
How To Keep Iguanas Away From Hotels & Resorts
To effectively keep iguanas away, implementing various techniques from a professional iguana removal company, like Humane Iguana Control, can be very useful. They have studied iguana behavior, leading to a successful approach to keeping these reptiles under control. Here are a couple of steps you can take to help:
1. Plants: Consider installing or replacing plants with those that iguanas do not eat. This simple change can help keep them away from hotels and resorts.
2. Block Entry Points: Identify and block potential entry points for iguanas. Once these points are located, sealing them off can prevent iguanas from accessing the property.
3. Tree & Brush Trimming: Trim overhanging tree limbs and bushes. This practice prevents iguanas from crossing over from neighboring properties and helps avoid the risk of iguanas falling on visitors and staff during the falling iguana season.
4. Deterrents: Regularly apply deterrents around the property’s perimeter. This method can be particularly effective for plants when the repellents are frequently reapplied.
5. Clear Wrap Iguana Deterrent: Install clear wraps on trees to prevent iguanas from climbing them. The smooth, ungraspable material deters iguanas and can also be used on seawalls and pilings to stop them from entering via water.
Following these steps can effectively deter iguanas and prevent Iguana pest infestations at popular vacation spots. However, consulting with an iguana pest control company is recommended to establish a comprehensive and effective plan to keep these scaly invaders at bay.
Iguana Education Presentation
As a well-known iguana removal company in South Florida, Humane Iguana Control provides educational seminars to help hotel staff manage iguana infestations. Sharing our knowledge is crucial due to the various incidents that can occur when iguanas are on the property. In these presentations, we cover the seasonal changes that affect iguanas, such as their mating seasons, when they dig burrows, and which months they are most active. We also demonstrate how to handle iguanas if they end up inside hotels or swimming pools.
While we offer 24/7 emergency iguana removal services, there may be times when staff need to take immediate action to neutralize dangerous situations involving iguanas. Although it’s not recommended, especially if you lack experience in handling iguanas, we provide safe and effective methods to keep the situation under control. For instance, if hotel or resort staff members need to remove an iguana from a swimming pool, we recommend placing it inside an empty 55-gallon garbage bin until an iguana control specialist arrives. Because the garbage can is plastic and smooth, iguanas are unable to climb out.
These presentations are highly recommended to ensure the safety of all visitors and staff members.
Accommodating Iguana Removal For Resorts and Hotels
While removing iguanas is important to avoid health risks, damage, and bodily harm, we understand that every hotel and resort is different. That’s why Humane Iguana Control offers customizable iguana removal plans to accommodate hotels and resorts. Once we are contracted, we contact the surrounding buildings to also offer our services. This community outreach helps keep iguanas away as they tend to travel from surrounding hotels and resorts.
We offer many methods of removal, such as iguana trapping. This method is used when iguanas are constantly munching on landscape plants. We place traps in areas where they are not visible, or we wrap our traps with camouflaged material so they’re not an eyesore for visitors. If iguana trapping isn’t an option, we can also remove iguanas by pole snare. This method is great as it does not disturb any of the property’s surroundings.
Nighttime iguana removal for hotels and resorts has been a very popular service request since it is done at night when there are no visitors. We easily locate iguanas at night with our LED head strap-on lights while they sleep on bushes and trees, which we then remove using various tools. Whichever method is preferred, we make sure to make it accommodating to help these paradise destinations.
After the majority of the infestation is removed, we recommend implementing our iguana monitoring program, which keeps iguanas in check!
