Iguana: It's what's for dinner.
Iguana was just one entrée choice for approximately 750 attendees of the 26th annual Beast Feast presented by the University of Florida's student chapter of the Wildlife Society Saturday night.
Tickets cost $13 in advance and $15 at the door.
The feast, which was held at UF's horse training facility, served a variety of strange meats beginning at 5 p.m. The menu included dishes with bobcat, octopus, rattlesnake, python, water buffalo, alligator, hog, elk, red deer, tilapia and grouper.
The meat was donated by game farms and individual hunters, said Ashley Williams, president of UF's student chapter of the Wildlife Society. Williams also said The Florida Museum of Natural History provided the python.
"It's always been a family event," said Elise Brumer, event coordinator and vice president of UF's wildlife chapter.
Williams said the organization reached its goal of selling 700 tickets.
George Tanner, who has attended the feast all 26 years, said one of the night's most important aspects is the planning, which allows the society's members to network with people concerned with wildlife issues.
Tanner also said that the event helps bring wildlife awareness to the public because many people do not realize the extent of damage non-native species do. He said that a lot of species are becoming major pests, and the exotics are competing with natural species.
He said that this is one of those instances when the horse is already out of the barn.
"Cooking four, five or six does nothing to the population," Tanner said. "But it kind of brings it home."
