Iguanas I Have Known

It's been a real pleasure to get to know some of our local iguanas.  They favour the largest trees as their homes and the trunk is their access point into the yard.  When they are about 6 feet from the ground, they pause and do a bit of head bobbing before descending to the yard.  I'm not sure what this waiting period before hitting the ground is about.  I suspect it's just a "hey, look at me" kind of thing since it has no apparent use in checking out and avoiding hawks, their natural enemy.  I don't think the poor buggers can even look up when they're descending the tree, so it's hit the ground and hope no ones waiting to eat me.

The first iguana we noticed was Daddy.  Daddy's a big guy with a serious row of spines on his back.  When Daddy walks by another iguana, the other guy makes a lot of room for the big guy.  Daddy is aloof and has always ignored us.  From his point of view, renters come and go but Daddy is a constant.

There's a couple of iguanas who travel in the gutter.  As they traverse the eaves their claws click,click along like a clockwork.  We figure these guys are the plumbers and have named them Walter and Hank.

A couple of the small guys hang out together quite a bit.  They play, jumping on each others back and seem to have a rollicking good time.  As I write this, up the tree they scramble, Jiblet chasing Giblet.  Or, perhaps the other way around, they kind of look the same.


The other iguanas include Tubby, Baby, Amos and Azul.  We started feeding Azul after he showed up on the step, interested in food.  Azul has taken to inviting himself into the house looking for us.  When we discover him in the house he determines that he's in foreign territory and scuttles off the deck, tumbling into the garden.  If we notice Azul on the step, he'll hang around until he considers that he's been properly fed, then, without a thank-you, he'll spin around and scuttle off.

I'm enjoying our iguana population and have learned a fair bit about them, including the fact that they have sharp little teeth.  Azul, though friendly, is not gentle.  I have decided to only feed him long bits of food from my hand after he attempted to take my finger along with the stubby bit of pineapple I was holding.

I'm hoping my one time "friend" hasn't acquired a taste for blood.