Iguanas

Iguanas

 

Speaking personally, the iguana is not our favorite creature here in these sub-tropical Keys. Those reptiles enjoy bright and beautiful flowers—the hibiscus and bougainvillea—for example, as do we. We humans love to look at them, but iguanas love to eat them!

Inquiring at nurseries about what flowers might not be desired by iguanas, we learned that all tropical flowers are to them like a tasty dessert treat. And high wire fencing placed around a plant won't keep an iguana out either! They have special abilities in climbing, with their long fingers and claws designed to aid them in hanging on wherever they decide to go. Their lumbering gait may appear clumsy—but don't be fooled! When they become aware of danger while resting in upper tree branches, even the 4-to 6-foot-long adults can move quickly—dropping down to the ground or water without hurting themselves—from heights as high as 40 to 50 feet!

Awhile back an ever-increasing number of iguanas appeared on Big Pine Key where we live, and we captured wonderful pic¬tures of them when they were near our home. They were fascinating to watch. We had no idea that in days they would strip the flowers from every bush and plant in our yard, methodically chewing their way through breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now their visits are rare because there are no flowers left in our yard for them to eat! (We made an administrative decision not to buy them more meals!)

But an iguana mother does have a redeeming characteristic. While she does not stay to protect the eggs she lays, nor does she care for her babies during their 2-year growth to maturity, she does make a burrow in the ground to lay some 50 eggs, PLUS she digs a number of other "pretend" burrows at the same time she makes a burrow for her own use for a real nurs¬ery. She does this to confuse other animals that are predators of iguanas who may be searching for eggs to eat. HOW did this otherwise seemingly uncaring mother creature know to do this remarkable protective deed? Because a caring Creator programmed this instinct into the mother iguana, so at least some of the little iguanas from each batch of eggs would have a chance to survive. It is definitely NOT BY ACCIDENT those pretend burrows are made. An Intelligent Designer did this—so iguanas could continue, wanted or not, eating flowers on this earth!

 "NOT BY ACCIDENT" (c) Juanita Kretschmar is used by permission and was first published in the book "Not By Accident"  pages 6-7

Related Articles

More From Genesis

Seahorse

Seahorse

It's hard to believe, looking at its picture, but a seahorse has much more than the shape of…
Seahorse

Doves

Doves are found all over the world and are normally unafraid of humans.
Doves

Golden Plover and The Trunk Fish

The golden plover flies to the artic to mate and raise their baby birds. However, before their…
Golden Plover and The Trunk Fish

Red-Eared Sliders

Adam and Eve, our little red-eared sliders (turtles) frequently stack themselves one on top of…
Red-Eared Sliders

Cats

Just four cats among 30+ species of felines have the ability to roar: the lion, tiger, leopard…
Cats

Crabs

The Dromia (or Sponge) Crab, with his ten legs, doesn't move swiftly.
Crabs

Ants

The ants' brains are the largest of any insect, and their mushroom-shaped appendages have been…
Ants

Dogs

All 400 million dogs (the four-legged, domesticated type) running around in the world, have the…
Dogs

Monkeys

"God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He…
Monkeys

Pelicans

The pelican has a protection mechanism that is awesome! That skilled "fisherman" bird can dive…
Pelicans

The Anhinga

The anhinga, if measured by appearance, to say the least is a sharp dresser! (Black and white…
The Anhinga

The Coyote

A female coyote chooses whom she will mate with - sometimes her choice is unwise! But then…
The Coyote

Key West Chickens

There's an estimated 24 billion chickens around the world—definitely not considered to be…
Key West Chickens

Porcupines

Not every "rodent" is as fascinating as the porcupine...nor are they as large...nor do others…
Porcupines

The Miracle of Water

In Genesis1:2, we read of GOD’s Spirit moving (or hovering) over the face of the water. On the…
The Miracle of Water

Cheetahs

You know you are looking at a cheetah if there is what looks like a black "tear mark" running…
Cheetahs

Key Deer

Like all newly-born white-tailed deer, the fawn in the key deer sub-species has a beautiful…
Key Deer

Publish the Menu module to "offcanvas" position. Here you can publish other modules as well.
Learn More.


donation