Iguanas

Iguanas are all over the place here. They are a beautiful dark green. The temple grounds and gardens are an oasis of green in a concrete jungle, and as such, has become a refuge for these leaf eaters. They are very wary and extreemly fast, so sightings are not frequent and usually brief. This first little one is a baby, about a foot long. I have seen them smaller.

The second one is well over 3 feet long including his long tail. They climb trees to get at the foliage. I have seen lots in trees. This one didn't like my getting so close and jumped to the ground about 15 feet and took off like a shot. I wasn't expecting that. I will keep my distance in the future as I don't want them getting hurt to escape.

The last one was just outside the temple grounds by the retaining wall. It has changed colour to match the concrete. It was quite battle scarred and had lost most of his tail, probably in the road. He took off running just seconds after I took this. These things hunker down at rest, but when they run, they get up and their legs are surprisingly long, and their legs go like windmills. They look like a 4 legged version of the road runner. The big chunky iguanas that I have mostly seen pictures of are the marine iguanas. They dive and feed on seaweed, and spend a lot of time working on their tans. I think these dry land versions don't get any bigger than the one in the tree. I havn't seen any yet anyway. There is a place in downtown Guayaquil called iguana park where they are plentiful and used to people. They will let people touch them. We haven't been there yet so maybe they get bigger. Pete