Near-perfect iguana habitat
Almost every subdivision, HOA, and golf community in Palm Beach County was built with retention lakes for drainage, and those lakes are close to perfect iguana habitat. The banks are soft and easy to burrow into, the surrounding lawns and clubhouse beds are exactly the tender growth iguanas graze, and the open water gives them an instant escape.
Communities like Leisureville and Hunters Run in Boynton, Mission Bay in Boca, and the golf lakes at PGA National carry long stretches of this shared bank, and the burrowing undermines the slopes and fouls the walkways.
The mistake we see most
The mistake we see most is treating a community lake like a single yard — sending someone out once, clearing the visible iguanas, and calling it done. Within weeks the bank refills from the rest of the lake and the connected canals, and the board is back to square one.
- Soft banks let iguanas burrow the whole shoreline, not just one spot
- Lawns and clubhouse beds are a constant food source
- Open water is an instant escape during a visit
- Connected canals feed animals back into a cleared lake
What works instead
What works is a walk to map the burrows and runs, then a monitored program: scheduled removal, traps on the active runs and basking spots, and bank work to collapse the dens. We keep service records the board or management office can hold on file, so the association can show the work is being done and residents can see progress across the season.
Common questions
We clear the lake and they come right back — why?
A community lake refills from the rest of the bank and any connected canals. A one-time clear-out can't hold; a monitored program with bank work is what keeps numbers down.
Do you provide documentation for our HOA board?
Yes. We keep service records and reporting the board or management office can hold on file, so the association can show the work is being done.
How long before we see the lake improve?
It depends on the size of the shoreline and how heavy the burrowing is, but a monitored program brings visible numbers down over the first several visits and then holds them there.
