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.

What the hell is that Dad?

 Sunday, March 25th

Sunday was a big day,... two of my favorite entities met for the first time.

...my 4 month old Son Indy met Carl.

Indy and Carl

Here is a strange picture,...this is Carl with Sebastian, the French Kid who shot the arrow through his head.

(in the inflatable boat behind him)

Carl crouched down, actually "ducked" and drew closer to Indy, my wife and I when he drove by.

Carl with the French Assassin 

Carl has been "wearing"/exhibiting his old muted coloration, has a nice battle wound on the base of his tail, 

AND took his number two thrown yesterday?

...I wonder more and more, if he has lost /been beaten-down by some new Alpha Male.

Two factors cancel that conclusion, A; he only stays on the dock for a limited amount of time, the returns to the highest perch.

B; I have been scanning  the tree tops with binoculars night and day and have only seen Carl occupying   the highest roost, (Wilsons's old branch) with his royal subjects scattered at varying heights below him.
There are two larger Iguanas that I have seen for about a year, (still always below Wilson, and now Carl) I have never seen them come to the dock.
One of these could be challenging Carl with the "realization" (for lack of a better word), that Big Wilson is no longer around.
Carl is large, but not nearly the size of Wilson, (R.I.P.)

Carl sitting at his old desk

CARL

CARL;

This video is taken last June, (2011) just weeks before neighboring French teenagers would kill Wilson, (the reigning Alpha Male for years), and put an arrow straight through Carl's head.
 With a little TLC and human protection, i.e. triple antibiotic on his wounds daily, cutting up food into very small pieces so it could travel through his severely damaged, (pierced) throat, and threatening the French

......Carl survived and healed,  taking Wilson's place, (and coloration) as Alpha Male among the Slaughter.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThxg1ZlO60

Carl just days after the teens shot an arrow through his head, the entrance wound is the dark spot just below the corner of his mouth.

The exit wound is straight through the Subtympanic Scale, on the other side, (the large false-eye scale, shown on this side intact just below and to the left of the entrance wound).

....I have no idea why the font became small and different either,.. I'm writing it, but apparently not in control.

Have a great day everyone- Iguana Dave

Thursday and Friday

Thursday, March 22nd 2012;
Great day, warm,...(temperature directly affects/effects the Iguana's metabolic rates,  thus,...activity).

The dock was packed, members would come and go all day, I could tell in the early morning that Carl was going to come over this day,..it was just too hot.

....and he did,..about an hour later,..cleared the dock,..all but Dotty fled the minuet he climbed out off the water.

Carl was "wearing" neutral colors,..his old coloration, anthropomorphically,..I would interpret this as him being "relaxed", OR he has been challenged and lost to a larger male, he does have a cut on the left side of his upper-tail, (that would be indicative of a fight)..but as I scanned his roost I saw no other, (large) iguanas,...AND as soon as he returned to his roost, his  Chromatophores lit up the bright orange and turquoise Alpha colors.
I would guesstimate that he was in a physical altercation,..and won.

The best part about Thursday was when Carl ate lettuce until he was full,..then walked past the food,..right up to me, (I was sitting "Indian-style" on the dock),..closed his eyes, as if to solicit/initiate some sort of communication, and/or physical contact.

I began petting him on the head,.. he just stood there with his eyes closed,...as he has done many times in the past,...again anthropomorphically,...I would say he seems to "like" this.

I know I shouldn't "play favorites",..but Carl is like no other Iguana I have ever met/observed/interacted-with.

If there is a lizard that actually enjoys the company of people, beyond food motivation,..your looking at him.

Friday,March 23rd;

Unfortunately I had to work away from home/the dock all day Friday, so I have absolutely no Intel.

I will be on the dock all weekend,  looks as though it's gonna be a hot one,...should be some action.

March 21st

Wednesday March 21st 2012;

Yesterday was a strange day,
I had to run into the "Adult Disney-Land for alcoholics " that is Key West Florida to pick up some supplies.

The thoughts and mind-set of collage days so far in my wake,...I Completely forget about Spring-Break.

I returned from a 4-hour trip that would normally have taken about an hour, after greeting my three girls, (Yellow Labs), human wife and son,..I headed to the dock.

 From my house I could see Dotty, Steve, and an adolescent near black Iguana with spines oriented "straight -up", (not "bending-back" or curving toward the tail as most other iguanas exhibit). 

Although I had not seen this animal for over 6 months,...I knew exactly who it was,...it was "Scott".

I had been thinking about him recently and wondering if I would ever see him again, Scott left sometime mid-last summer, was  MIA come fall, I feared he had been eaten by a Hawk, or met some other horrible demise.

He is larger, and will most likely exhibit a noticeable growth-spurt this summer

Scott's return 2012

I was happy to see this little lizard.

About an hour later I went back down and again, from a distance could see a larger Iguana I hadn't seen before.

Dotty,Scott, and Blue were there, no sign of Steve,..and this strange new Iguana was dropping it's dewlap, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewlap) and head-bobbing at Dotty and Blue.

This Is a strangely patterned animal, almost looks related to Carl, however I believe this to be a larger, female.
If she decides to stick around...could mean trouble for a few of the smaller iguanas.

Blue is in the foreground and the new stranger, (fringe Iguana) in back with dewlap extended,..she was "bobbing" at Blue, then charged him/her, (I am not sure of  Blue's sex).

In all of my years observing these lizards, I can tell you one thing,... there is nothing more aggressive as a large female, males will put on elaborate displays changing color, puffing-up and bobbing their heads, etc,..but will rarely, attack and bite like a female.
The girls give a quick warning and then charge with intent to do harm.

It will be interesting to see if she comes back to the dock today.

Monday and Tuesday

18th+19th

Monday; quiet,... Steve only all day.

Tuesday; (yesterday) Steve, Dotty, and one of last yeas's hatch-lings I don't/didn't recognize,...very skittish.

Based on markings and size, I suspect he is a relative/nest-mate of the one we call "Todd".