June 23: Wanna Iguana?

I love iguanas. Not that I would ever own one, of course. Around South Florida, you don't need to own one anyway. They're all over, though for some reason these prehistoric-looking lizards seem to favor particular locations over others for group meetups. Not sure why exactly, unless there's some two-for-one special on hibiscus flowers at their hotspots or something. (Iguanas love to munch on flowers and hibiscus is among their favorites.) So I'm devoting this week's blogs to these odd creatures, explaining why you'll enjoy them if you visit the Fort Lauderdale area and where to find them if you'd like to show the family. Tourists are especially fascinated, understandably enough. Riding the Water Taxi or in some park, I'll often watch visitors race for their cameras whenever they see an iguana lazily sunning itself. Iguanas are one of the many natural attractions around here.  Not native. Distinctly unloved by some residents, especially those with hibiscus! But fairly amazing animals, honestly, if you take a little time to observe them.

Perhaps their personal appeal for me has something to do with my past. When I was a kid, maybe 12-years-old, I learned to do a pretty darned good lizard impression. Give me a martini some day and I'll show you. Heck, I'll show you without the martini. Then like so many kids, I also was completely absorbed by dinosaurs for a while.

Iguanas really do look like they stepped out of Jurassic Park. Stubby legs, long claws, a spiky crown on their head. Weird, frankly. They're among the largest lizards found in South, Central or North America and also are native to such far-flung shores as Fiji in the South Pacific and Madagascar off the African coast. Now they've found a very comfortable home in South Florida, where the subtropical climate and abundant plant life have allowed abandoned pets to breed wildly. You can tell younger iguanas from older ones pretty easily: young ones tend to be bright green and a lot smaller; older iguanas often turn dark green and can grow very large. Very. They like to sit in the midday sun to soak up the rays or just hang somewhere around water - they're gifted swimmers. And man, can they run. When they want to, iguanas raise up on their legs and hit the gas, crossing a field or street so fast they should leave a vapor trail. Right up there with alligators, wild parrots and pelicans these days, iguanas have become one of the must-see Fort Lauderdale critters. Later this week, I'll tell you about a few places to take your camera and grab some lizard snaps for the friends back home. Once you know where to go and when, all you'll need is a fully charged camera battery and a decent zoom for those closeups. These guys are kinda ugly, for sure - but in a very photogenic way.