Florida Man Startled After Coming Across Angry Iguana In Toilet

Clare Fitzgerald
Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

While many might assume iguanas are native to Florida, they’re actually an invasive species that have, quite literally, taken over the state. If you don’t live there, you likely only hear of the reptiles around the wintertime, when they freeze and fall out of trees. However, they’re actually a year-round nuisance, as one man learned when he looked into his toilet and saw one angrily hissing at him.

The man, 58-year-old John Riddle of Hollywood, Florida, was about to close his bathroom door when he looked down at the toilet and saw the iguana, which he told WSVN was “splashing and hissing at me.” For someone who already isn’t a fan of reptiles, this was not the sight he expected – nor wanted – to come across.

“I walked in my bathroom and found Godzilla in my toilet,” he told the Daily Mail.

As Riddle was figuring out how to remove the iguana from his home, he said it ventured deeper into the toilet. While he waited for it to calm down, he set up a baby gate, to keep it from running into his bedroom.

Iguana standing on a wooden deck
Photo Credit: Vittorio Sciosia / REDA&CO / Universal Images Group / Getty Images

“I came back probably a little less than an hour later, and there he was again, splashing around,” he told WSVN. “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.”

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Once the reptile was out of the house, it dove into Riddle’s pool, after which it ran into the backyard. He assured WSVN that it wasn’t hurt in the encounter, and added that he hopes to never again see the iguana inside his residence.

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Clare Fitzgerald is a Writer and Editor with eight years of experience in the online content sphere. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from King’s University College at Western University, her portfolio includes coverage of digital media, current affairs, history and true crime.

Among her accomplishments are being the Founder of the true crime blog, Stories of the Unsolved, which garners between 400,000 and 500,000 views annually, and a contributor for John Lordan’s Seriously Mysterious podcast. Prior to its hiatus, she also served as the Head of Content for UK YouTube publication, TenEighty Magazine.

In her spare time, Clare likes to play Pokemon GO and re-watch Heartland over and over (and over) again. She’ll also rave about her three Maltese dogs whenever she gets the chance.

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