Florida man kills "vicious" iguana, claims "stand your ground" defense.

[marmar]

The iguana started it. Or so says a man who claims he feared for his life and had every right to bash the creature to death under Florida’s stand your ground law.

PJ Nilaja Patterson, 43, is accused of animal cruelty over killing an iguana. But the 6-foot-3, 165-pound man argues that he was in fear for his life — and that the 3-foot green iguana was the first to resort to violence during their horrific encounter in Lake Worth Beach.

“The vicious animal got the best of Patterson and savagely bit his right arm,” say Patterson’s lawyers. The man went to the hospital and got 22 staples to close the wound caused by the “wild beast.”

Patterson’s tussle with the invasive reptile is thought to be the first time anyone has pursued a stand-your-ground claim over a deadly confrontation with an iguana. The controversial law instead was written with people and dangerous situations in mind. ...............(more)

https://news.yahoo.com/killed-iguana-got-arrested-now-224300133.html

[Diamond_Dog]

1. ....

[DBoon]

2. Iguanas eat plants

Maybe they mistook Florida Man for a leafy vegetable

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. I have lived in Florida since 1998 among all the

incredibly stupid Goobers and Gomers that comprise a fair portion of the population and I am still amazed almost constantly at what happens here.

[ansible]

4. Florida's had a pretty bad reputation for decades

Was even joked about in this 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon

[Tommy Carcetti]

6. Oh really? God, I had never, ever seen that before.

Thank you so much for bringing that to our attention.

Next you’ll tell us people make jokes about “Floriduh.”

[TheRealNorth]

9. lol

I remember seeing that episode as a kid. I forgot about the, "South America, take it away" part.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. There's a whole subreddit for /FloridaMan

It's equal parts horrifying and hilarious.

[Chainfire]

5. Florida is the third largest state, so we have our share of nuts

We also have some of the easiest access to police records, so it is easier for the press to get the crazy stories.

The zit-brain was probably trying to play with the lizard. When I lived in Miami, I had a resident Iguana in the Mango tree in front of my house. He kept as far away from people as he could. We had a copesetic relationship, I minded my own business he he (or she) minded their own business. We never had a biting or a smashing.

[ansible]

7. The heat and humidity also drives people nuts

I'd rather live in a desert than in a humid state

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. It's so sad how often I must look to see if something is from The Onion

[Nevilledog]

12. Ditto

[rickyhall]

10. My brother iguanas for years, nobody got bit. They could scratch you trying to climb.

[GulfCoast66]

13. As a science major who loves our Florida ecosystem

Which is being destroyed by invasive species I want all iguanas gone from our state.

This guy is not in trouble for killing the iguana. That’s legal and even encouraged if done humanly. I live too far north he state for them. But every cuban frog I catch gets put in a zip lock bag and just goes to sleep in my beer freezer. They eat our beautiful and native green tree frogs which are becoming more rare. Every year I hope for a hard freeze. It’s been over 10 years since we’ve had one.

This guy is in trouble for torturing the creature.

As he should be.