Steve is gone

Steve visited the dock for the next two days,...then disappeared.

Two days after his disappearance it became crystal-clear what his job had been,...that he indeed was the "Door-Man"
The dock has been packed with all kinds of crazy Iguanas I have never seen before, large and small.


 I have lost a friend, this little being with whom I fed and interacted with for years,...he would crawl right up on your lap and allow you to pet him even after he had eaten, i.e. it wasn't just food-motivation.


To be killed in such a way, by a neighbor,..a neighbor  I actually like,...is really though for me.
I can't say anything,....for I would look crazy, the majority of people want them gone, they view me as some crazy old cat-women/man who feeds un-indigenous garden-eating rats.

Steve was the only iguana to ever come up to the house, go up the stairs, and,... with three barking dogs inside, (their natural enemy) scratch on the sliding glass door to be fed.

I am truly already missing this animal.

Rest In Peace  little buddy

I have taken an unintentional break from this Blog, first, simply for the lack of time, second, I resigned  my self to a single entry a week.
It's been a few weeks since I last posted; everything seemed cool, old familiars began showing up, a bunch of new hatchlings, Carl showing up daily and taking the picnic bench,..which got me thinking were the hell is Steve?


Steve showed-up at the dock, after a two week hiatus this Tuesday morning , he was there before the sun rose, (no iguana ever shows up before 9:00AM).

Something was terribly wrong and I could see from my deck, and when I approached it was clear he had been attacked,... by either a dog or a human and his pelvis seemed to be broken, almost paralyzed in each back leg, his colors were dark and muted.

Carl came later in the morning and sat beside his childhood buddy all day.
Any aggression I had predicted between the two never materialized, and it seems their "friendship" will be to till the end.

Steve showed up this morning , (just around sunrise),..my friend Phil and his family came to visit, it seemed some how fitting that a friend of mine that actually reads this blog would be able to come down to the Keys, and sort-of pay  his respects, Phil seemed optimistic, sighting the Carl incident, and how fatal I believed that may be at the time,...but I knew down inside that this is different.
  Steve just remained curled up in the base of the Papasan chair for most of the day and has just begun to move around I feel today may be one of the last days I get to hang out with my little buddy.

.......just found out from a neighbor that another neighbor, (diagonally across the canal) had hit one with a shovel a few days ago because it was "threatening" his little lap-dog.
It  is highly unlikely that Steve was threatening his dog at all, ..if anything simply holding his ground.
It is highly likely though, that Armondo smashed him with a shovel after seeing what he believed to be his little dog in trouble, however, it is mainly my fault for creating a situation where Steve felt comfortable enough around humans that his natural "fight or flight" responses/reactions where "dulled".

I have debated catching him and taking him to the vet, but quickly dismissed the idea as poor, knowing that most animals, especially reptiles and fish will stress out to the point of simply "shutting-down" if removed from their habitat, (especially while combating the stress of  a preexisting physical ailment)
I figure his last days should be unmolested and peaceful here on the dock where he has lived for the past 5 years.