Dirty Jobs: Hunting, catching invasive iguanas and turning them into fish chum

The News-Press and Naples Daily News are doing a special series on Dirty Jobs in Southwest Florida. Today we are taking a closer look at iguanas, more specifically, the people who catch them.

Iguana Control, Florida's largest iguana control company, services commercial and residential areas where iguanas run rampant. Iguana Control operates in 78 Florida counties, including both Lee and Collier. Typically, they only take jobs where the behavior and amount of iguanas on a property are disrupting someone's lifestyle or pose a health risk.

In Florida, iguanas are a highly invasive species. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) estimates a current population of several 100,000 which has grown steadily since the 1960s. There are three types of invasive iguanas: the black spiny-tail iguana, the Mexican spiny-tail iguana and the green iguana.

Iguana Control's main services include monitoring, trapping, typography protection and installation of their products on properties.

Tom Portuallo, the founder and owner of Iguana Control, knows the ins and outs of the business like no other.

• WHO DOES THE JOB?: Companies like Iguana Control typically hire people who have experience working outdoors. This is because trappers spend a good portion of their workday in the hot and humid Florida weather. Portuallo prefers to hire people without previous trapping experience. Instead, the new hires will go through a three to four week training program where they come to understand the basics of the company, a breakdown of the equipment and how to properly survey a property.

• HOW LONG DOES THIS JOB TAKE?: It varies. Companies are called to a variety of settings for iguana trapping and control. According to Portuallo, iguana removal is a process. For example, if his company is surveying a single-family home with reports of three or four iguanas, they may remove two, check back a week later and set a trapping device. In the event of a larger client, like a golf course or a municipality, the job requires more manpower and takes significantly longer.

• WHY IS THIS JOB IMPORTANT?: The FWC maintains iguanas are non-native invasive species that have a negative impact on the ecosystem, such as disruption of the food chain and displacement of native wildlife. They also cause damage to property and may carry disease. Portuello said that the demand for this work has grown significantly since he first started Iguana Control over a decade ago.

• WHAT TOOLS ARE NEEDED TO DO THIS JOB?: The most common tools used for this job are nets and nooses, the least aggressive approach to iguana control. However, the tools used depend on the location trappers are called to. In a commercial space, like a restaurant, trappers would typically take the less aggressive approach. In a residential space, like a private residence, a trapper might take a more aggressive approach by using traps and compressed air pellet pistols (high powered 22 caliber pistols), which the FWC permits for use.

Q&A: 4 questions about the dirty job of iguana catch and removal for Tom Portuallo

Q: WHAT IS THE LARGEST IGUANA THAT YOUR COMPANY HAS EVER CAUGHT?

PORTUALLO: "The largest was six feet, four inches. The average is around three to four feet, those are very common. Five, a little less so."

Q: WHAT IS THE WEIRDEST PLACE THAT YOUR COMPANY HAS HAD TO RETRIEVE AN IGUANA?

PORTUALLO: "In homes, we get those calls a lot, and in the bathroom, in toilets, but those aren't very common. The strangest was at a birthday for a young boy maybe six or seven years old where a parent called that she was upset because there was this large one in the yard where the kids were playing. By the time we're there, the iguana was unbelievably tame, sitting there while these kids are petting it. They didn't like that my trapper had to pick it up and take it away."

Q: WHAT HAPPENS TO THE IGUANAS AFTER YOU CATCH THEM?

Note: In Florida, it is not legal to relocate or release iguanas in the state. According to the FWC, all nonnative reptile species, iguanas are not protected in the state except by anti-cruelty law. This means they can be humanely killed on private property with landowner permission.

PORTUALLO: "What we do now is take the carcasses that we grab in all the counties, and we make fish chum out of it. It was a unique way to solve an issue that was becoming a growing concern. Meaning, what do you do with all these carcasses?"

Solving this question was what created Iguana Control's sister company, Iguana Chum. In the early days, Portuallo says that it was a crude method because of their lack of equipment. So much so that Mike Rowe, from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs featured him and his company in the show's ninth season.

PORTUALLO: "We just had the back of the control warehouse, the table setup, and some equipment. There was a very crude method that we were trying to evolve. Of course two-and-a-half years later, you know, we have a full facility operating with that concept."

Q: WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR PEOPLE ABOUT PREVENTING INVASIVE IGUANAS?

PORTUALLO: "The most common advice I give to people, since it's difficult to keep the list of what they don't eat updated on a regular basis as they may change their eating habits, is to go to the plant store and buy a sample tray of different kinds of plants. Water the plants and keep them there for a month. If they aren't going after them, then go ahead and plant them on your property."

Portuallo also suggests that people interested in prevention visit Iguana Control's website to learn more about the myths of iguana repellant.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Hunting iguanas is considered one of Florida's dirty jobs