Florida Wildlife: Green Iguana

When I was on my vacation in Florida, I caught a monstrous green iguana! Have you ever seen one, let alone CAUGHT one?

One blazing day in Key Largo, I ran to a gravel mound, looking for lizards. At not finding any, I was in disappointment. Suddenly, I found a rope sticking out of a hole. After some inspecting, it turned out to be a lizard tail, but bigger than the lizards I had seen before. I tried to pull it out, but the attempt failed. I was determined to try again.

But mom told me to go in the building for information. (My family was going to swim with dolphins.) What felt like hours inside the building was actually just minutes. That is because I could not take my mind off of that lizard! When me and my family were walking back to the car to get equipment, I called Zoe over and told her there was a large lizard hiding in a hole. Then I grasped it by the tail, and pulled. It took about a minute to take the lizard out. When it was almost out, I used my last bit of curiosity-fueled might to take out the lizard.

Then I called to mom. When she arrived, she took a bunch of photos.

Iguanas are large reptiles inhabiting South America, Mexico, and Florida. Some were even found in Illinois and Texas.

They grow to 1.7 meters long and weigh 5 kilograms. Some iguanas have been recorded being 2 meters long and weighing 9.1 kilograms. They sport long tails, saw-like teeth, large back spines, sharp claws, and greenish coloration to protect themselves against predators. They also have bead-like scales on loose skin and a large plate marking the joint where the upper and lower jaw meet. They have a massive dewlap, which is the flap of skin hanging from the throat of iguanas.

There are four subspecies (ssp.): Iguana, insularis, melanoderma, and sanctaluciae. The melanoderma subspecies lives in the Antilles islands and was brought there by a hurricane, where they reproduced and colonized the island.

Green iguanas are mainly herbivores, but they may sometimes eat insects. The young of green iguanas live in palm trees until they grow to 1 meter. That is when they dig burrows in sand or gravel. These homes help them survive droughts and severe storms. There may be a couple of small lizards living in the burrows of iguanas.

The predators of iguanas include hawks, owls, snakes, and… HUMANS.

When cornered by a threat, a green iguana can dive and swim away from a predator if there is a water source nearby. If cornered by a threat, a green iguana puffs up its body, hisses, and displays its dewlap. If the predator still does not give up, the iguana will use its tail like a whip, combined with its razor sharp claws and teeth.