Pilings depend on the soil around them
A piling — whether it's holding up a dock, a boat lift, a platform, or a structure on a soft site — stays rigid because of the soil packed tightly around it. That surrounding fill resists the sideways loads and keeps the piling from rocking. Iguanas like to dig right where a piling meets a soft bank or backfill, which is exactly the soil doing that job.
Their burrowing loosens and hollows the fill around the base. Over time, and especially under the repeated loading a dock or lift puts on its pilings, that can let a piling work loose, rock, or shift out of plumb.
Why it's easy to overlook
This damage hides at the waterline and along the submerged edge, where nobody's inspecting closely day to day. It tends to get noticed only after the fact — when a dock feels less solid underfoot, a piling visibly leans, or a lift starts behaving differently. By then the surrounding fill has usually already been compromised.
- Burrow openings at the base of pilings where they enter the bank
- A piling that looks out of plumb or has visibly shifted
- A dock section that feels springy or less solid than it used to
- Fanned spoil dirt and undercut soil right at the piling base
The same story as seawalls and banks
This is really the seawall and canal-bank problem in miniature: iguanas remove the soil support that a structure was counting on. A finger-canal or Intracoastal dock sitting on soft, burrowed banks faces the same undermining as the seawall next to it, just concentrated at each piling.
Protecting the pilings
Collapsing the burrows and removing the resident animals stops the fill from being repeatedly loosened, and smooth piling guards where practical make the base a less inviting dig. As with everything on the water, doing this while a population is still active means expecting them to re-dig — which is why removal comes first.
Common questions
Can iguana burrows loosen my dock pilings?
Yes. Burrowing at the base hollows out the fill that keeps a piling rigid, so repeated digging there can let a piling shift, rock, or work loose under the load of a dock or boat lift, especially on a soft canal bank.
How do I protect pilings from iguanas?
Collapsing the burrows and removing the resident animals keeps them from re-digging at the base and re-loosening the fill, and smooth piling guards where practical make the spot less inviting. Removal comes first so the burrows aren't just reopened.
Why didn't I notice until the piling moved?
The damage sits at the waterline and submerged edge where no one inspects closely, so it usually goes unseen until a dock feels less solid or a piling visibly leans — by which point the surrounding fill has already been compromised.
