A daytime, parking-lot brawl between an opportunistic raccoon and a green iguana is just about as juicy as urban-animal showdowns get. This short clip, filmed by Boca Raton-resident Frankie Gentry in southeast Florida last month, shows a raccoon chasing down and tackling an iguana in the middle of a busy parking lot.
After pinning its prey, the raccoon pauses for a moment to stare down Gentry before dragging the iguana between two parked cars, leaving nothing behind but the lizard’s still-twitching tail as evidence of the incident.
It’s a startling display of urban-raccoon opportunism and it’s perhaps unsurprising that the tarmac takedown took place in Florida. The Sunshine State is a reliable epicentre for unpredictable animal encounters, from gators in drainpipes to crocodiles in swimming pools.
Florida’s sticky, coastal climate and abundance of water (particularly in the southerly Everglades) make it an ideal habitat for a number of species like alligators and bald eagles. It’s also home to growing populations of nonnative animals including Burmese pythons, Cuban tree frogs and giant African snails that have established here in large numbers.
Green iguanas are also immigrants to the Everglades and are amongst the most problematic of the state’s invasive alien species. They hail from Central America and were first brought to Florida in the 1960s as pets prized for their vibrant colours. The reptiles are now thriving in south Florida where they are pushing out native species, damaging landscape vegetation, and generally causing a nuisance for Florida homeowners.
According to Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife ecology professor at the University of Florida, humans have inadvertently helped the surge of green iguana numbers by creating manicured gardens filled with plants, like hibiscus, on which the reptiles thrive. Iguanas have also taken to colonising the state’s tree-lined water canals, making it easier for them to infiltrate Floridian suburbia.