Did you take that pic, Mari?

i have never been privileged to see an iguana in the wild either, even though i have lived places where they live.

in the islands we used to have huge chicken snakes (pythons - up to 8 ft long) and grass snakes - nothing poisonous, but we got scared once when our very very BOLD cat decided to "investigate" an adult chicken snake. (hurried over to neighbor's to retrieve cat!)

we also had lots of lizards... i especially liked the brilliant slim, green ones - they were not chameleons, but could change color to a dull grey-brown depending on where they were.

the most amazing ones though were these big lizards (up to 1 foot long), mostly brown black longitudinal stripes on their backs, plus a single iridescent turquoise stripe down very middle - looked like applied eye makeup! i saw smaller ones of these where i lived in Florida too...plus lots of birds lakeside... the black kind with red shoulders and lots of others.

both places had all different kinds of birds... too many to list. my favorites were the hummingbirds - many varieties in the islands especially. the ruby-throated male is stunning.

i do miss the fauna and flora from the islands and florida.

here we have birds and we have sighted A squirrel (ONE!) in a neighbor's yard. the birds are more noticeable in spring when some have very melodious song. the swallows are also interesting as they "swarm" in circles at dusk and dawn: that is when they feed - they hunt/catch insects while airborne! quite a sight, really. they fly very high so the noise is not bad, even though they have a high-pitched shriek.

i must say, i do NOT miss the giant flying cockroaches from the islands and florida, lol.

~ waves ~

p.s. a friend of mine had a pet iguana... he and his wife would "wear" him on their head a lot. he seemed to like being perched up there... perhaps because there was a good view, lol. those things have wicked claws though, when they feel the need to grip.... OUCH!!!