iguanas

No, not mean but I'm told they don't see too well & I do know that if you're eating at Fungi's or Molly Malone's & have bright polish on your nails to watch out because they might come & investigate plus they got brazen because people fed them (they do like french fries.)

They usually run from you. I understand the bigger ones can do some damage by whipping it at an attacker.

Iguanas are everywhere...they are 'protected'...and their bad eyesight only comes into play if you are trying to feed them by hand..10 red toenails may look inviting to them, but if you move at all, they will run...they are very timid of humans, except where they have become accustomed to them, like at resorts...basically, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone..

when you say 'protected', does that mean ya cant harvest them for table fare?

Thank you everyone fot the info. You have been very helpful and now i know not to be scared of them.

Hey just saying, they will take a bite of your toes (polish or not) at BlueBeard's Beach Club at Lime Tree Beach. People feed them so often they don't run from you at all there. And just because you see a particularly fat iguana sunning itself - don't think it is slow. When they get on their feet they are fast and noisy coming down hills. Anyone else hear what you thought was an elephant coming thru the bush, just to find it to be an iguana? I loved to take pics of them, but don't like getting close to them.

When we first moved to the islands we had a 'pet' iguana that kept the mice away from our porch. Better than a cat that way. 🙂 I am not afraid of them too much, but I don't go trying to pet their heads either.

Teresa

sara: Calling them mean is giving them some sort of mental ability that they don't have as reptiles. They are wild animals and not too smart. They like the sun, so they sit in the middle of the road and get squished a lot (but not enough for my liking.) They like pool decks and they are not potty trained, if you get my drift. People feed them because they think they are interesting, and when the food runs out, the animal comes after them for more. Don't feed wild animals! Don't be afraid of them, you are bigger than they are and can shoo them pretty easily.There is a sign at the Reef that says they are an endangered species and therefore protected, but I have never heard that anywhere else. Marty, could you point me to the proof of that statement?

Wow. Off that soap box.

"Protected" means that if you are caught killing one, you will be fined...a protected scpecies is what I meant:

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Species-Range in region-Federal status

E = Endangered, T = Threatened, and * = extirpated.

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Birds
Brown pelican Puerto Rico E
Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk Puerto Rico E
Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk Puerto Rico E
American peregrine falcon Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Arctic peregrine falcon Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands T
Roseate tern Puerto Rico, Virgin Island T
Piping plover Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands T
Puerto Rican plain pigeon Puerto Rico E
Puerto Rican parrot Puerto Rico E
Puerto Rican nightjar Puerto Rico E
White-necked crow Puerto Rico E *
Yellow-shouldered blackbird Puerto Rico E
Red siskin (introduced) Puerto Rico E
Reptiles
Culebra Island giant anole Puerto Rico (Culebra Island) E
Mona boa Puerto Rico (Mona) T
Puerto Rican boa Puerto Rico E
Virgin Islands tree boa Virgin Islands E
Monito dwarf gecko Puerto Rico (Monito) E
Mona ground iguana Puerto Rico (Mona) T <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
St. Croix ground lizard Virgin Islands E <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Green turtle Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands T
Hawksbill Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Kemp's ridley Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Leatherback Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Loggerhead Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands T
Amphibians
Golden coqui Puerto Rico T
Puerto Rican ridge-headed toad Puerto Rico T
Plants
Ferns and allies
Brake family
Adiantum vivesii Puerto Rico E
Shield fern family
Elaphoglossum serpens Puerto Rico E
Polystichum calderonense Puerto Rico E
Tectaria estremerana Puerto Rico E
Thelypteris family
Thelypteris inaborensis Puerto Rico E
T. verecunda Puerto Rico E
T. yaucoensis Puerto Rico E
Tree-fern family
Elfin tree-fern Puerto Rico E
Monocot plants
Grass family
Aristida chaseae Puerto Rico E
Pelos del diablo Puerto Rico E
Orchid family
Cranichis ricartii Puerto Rico E
Lepanthes eltoroensis Puerto Rico E
Palm family
Palma de manaca Puerto Rico T
Dicot plants
Bignonia family
Higuero de sierra Puerto Rico E
Boxwood family
Vahl's boxwood Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Buckthorn family
Auerodendron pauciflorum Puerto Rico E
Cacti
Higo chumbo Puerto Rico T
Leptocereus grantianus Puerto Rico E
Canella family
Chupacallos Puerto Rico E
Citrus family
St. Thomas prickly-ash Virgin Islands E
Flacourt family
Palo de Ramón Puerto Rico E
Heath family
Lyonia truncata var. proctorii Puerto Rico E
Holly family
Cook's holly Puerto Rico E
Ilex sintenisii Puerto Rico E
Icacine family
Palo de rosa Puerto Rico E
Madder family
Mitracarpus maxwelliae Puerto Rico E
M. polycladus Puerto Rico E
Mahogany family
Bariaco Puerto Rico E
Mezereum family
Daphnopsis hellerana Puerto Rico E
Myrtle family
Calyptranthes thomasiana Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands E
Eugenia woodburyana Puerto Rico E
Uvillo Puerto Rico E
Myrcia paganii Puerto Rico E
Nightshade family
Erubia Puerto Rico E
Matabuey Puerto Rico E
Olax family
Schoepfia arenaria Puerto Rico T
Pea family
Chamaecrista glandulosa var. mirabilis Puerto Rico E
Cóbana negra Puerto Rico T
Pepper family
Wheeler's peperomia Puerto Rico E
Snowbell family
Palo de jazmín Puerto Rico E
Sunflower family
Vernonia proctorii Puerto Rico E
Tea family
Palo colorado Puerto Rico E
Ternstroemia subsessilis Puerto Rico E
Verbena family
Capá rosa Puerto Rico E
Palo de nigua Puerto Rico E

In the Virgin Islands, 26 reptile species are known, including 15 lizards, 5 snakes (1 extinct), 1 tortoise (introduced), and 5 sea turtles. The 60 reptile species that occur in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands show a high rate of endemism, with 42 species (70%) found only in these islands. Twelve of the region's species, including all sea turtles, are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Fig. 13; Table 2).

This info came from: http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/cr133.htm

When I lived in CO, I had a green iguana named Dolly as a pet. She was 6inches when we got her and six feet at her demise! Many years later, I might add!
I used to take her to the Elementary School regularly for Pet the Scary Beast Day, or whatever it was.
I was very fond of her...not reciprocated in any way...she was fascinating. The highlight was the year she climbed the fully laden Xmas tree!
Her idea of (fun?!) was to run over my sleeping Chocolate Lab and watch him leap to his feet and jump on the couch!
The tail is used as a weapon, but watch out for the bite. They have no teeth, but several rows of serrated spiked lines on the gum. They bite down hard and then saw the top and bottom jaws side to side. Not pretty and very painful if they get a lock. The pitbull of the wrinkly world.

"Mona ground iguana Puerto Rico (Mona) T"

WAIT A SECOND!! The are only threatened on Puerto Rico!! We could start a new EDC company: VI Iguana Inc. Fine wallets, belts, shoes and sandals! Baby lime green or old guy khaki? Hmm, this could be the next big trend.

Jane: I had a friend who owned an iguana named Fluffy.

EE,

That sounds like one rock-solid business plan to me -- no taxes AND no competition from the Puerto Ricans -- where do I sign up :)????

Marty, can you post an updated list showing that little "T" or "E" next to all Eastern & Southeastern Asian, Mexican and South American species of Iguanas?

Island Ed is working on our logo, Jane is working on the name -- and WE are ready to roll!!!!

EE: That was just their 'Range in Region'! Haha! Great idea...in concept! Haha!

Mell: The info is probably best read on the website: http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/cr133.htm

Better than posting such long messages, eh?

Of course, down island they DO eat them...and they taste just lke chicken!!! haha!

Massive development over the years has afforded the iguanas less and less space in which to do what they do best - sprawl out on tree limbs, eat hibiscus flowers, grow up from little bitty bright green youngsters to very large reptilian creatures with big combs and whiplashing tails - and breed. Their tree thing sometimes gets a bit weirded out. They wake up from a long lounge, lose their grip and, amidst a flurry of falling leaves, go KERPLOP on the ground, then shake themselves off and go about business as usual. They're also awsome swimmers and those which live in close proximity to the sea and who are alarmed by any sort of a potential predator are most adept at diving in and swimming underwater for quite a long distance before hauling themselves up onto a safer rock some long distance away.

Mongooses were brought into the territory many years ago in an effort to curb the rat population which was eating up the sugar cane. Not a good move since rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal and that ended up a big DUH! to say the least. But the mongooses nonetheless proliferated and had a field day day decimating the ground dove population (who lay their eggs in ground nests) and the nonpoisonous local snakes - and the young iguanas. At Morningstar years ago (before the villas) I watched a mongoose take on a quite large iguana and win, dragging him off into the bush for a feast.

The iguanas who get regularly squished on the road are usually in mating mode when they seemingly lose all sense of self-preservation, literally get googly-eyed over a female and, with stars in their eyes, sit there blindly in some sort of Zen state. There are some male humans who suffer from the same problem. Some "humans" just run them over for the heck of it, while others hold up traffic by first stopping and honking and then, if Iggie doesn't move, get out of their cars and shoo them off to the side.

And, yes I understand from the oldtimers that they do indeed taste like chicken. And although there seems to be some question from Marty's list that they're not protected in the Virgin Islands, it's always been my understanding that indeed they are. I also understand that there are no iguanas on STX and only a few on STJ but I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong on that score. Probably time to call Agriculture!

Just my feeble two cents as a longtime iguana-watcher who appreciates their worth and place and who has not only enjoyed their antics over many years but who has also saved many babies from the mouths of cats, revived them by various means (Island Ed, we need not go there!!!) and safely put them back into the bush to cope as best they can.

Cheers!

Hi STT Res,

My only correction.. we do indeed have iguanas on STX. Maybe not running amok all over the island as it sounds like St. Thomas is, but I see them on a regular basis. Sometimes running across the street (which most people do stop for) but mostly they seem to like sunning thmeselves on the top of the wall around my yard.

-Beth

There was an iguana years ago at Tillett Gardens who had hurt himself & the chiropractor there (can't remember her name (Dana something?) but she has since died) put a Band-Aid on his head. Quite funny to see the critter running around with an owie.

STT Res,

Thank you so much for explaining something to me:

I have stopped traffic more than once to avoid hitting Iguanas that were "frozen" in the middle of the road. I wondered what this was all about, but now I understand.

I always assumed that the poor, deceased Iguanas that I see on the road had for the most part fallen out of trees.

I have been seeing a lot more dead Iguanas in the middle of the road lately. Is this just a coincidence or is this mating season for them?

It doesn't rain as much and they head towards water from the hills. It seems like I saw a lot of them on the roads in January more than any other month.

Teresa