Re: CA Press:Maybe iguana wanna go home

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Posted by Flavia Guimaraes on July 30, 2002 at 22:14:50:

In Reply to: CA Press:Maybe iguana wanna go home posted by desiree on July 30, 2002 at 11:37:24:

30, 40 years??!!!I hope my igs will live so long!!Can you imagine how grumpy Godzilla will become when he reaches that age???

:7/30/2002

:Maybe iguana wanna go home
:By RAMONA TURNER
:Sentinel staff writer
:SOQUEL � It�s a bird. It�s a kite. No, it�s an iguana.

:And senior citizens in the Soquel Glen Mobile Home Park on Soquel Drive are trying to determine what to do about the nearly 6-foot reptile perched 60-80 feet up an oak tree. Park management says it doesn�t know whether to try to get it down or leave it alone.

:"He�s huge! He�s beautiful!" said Bob Vallerga, a two-year resident of the park. His home is under the tree in which the iguana was sunning himself Monday.

:"I�m sure he�s got a home somewhere," Vallerga said. "I�d love to see him returned."

:Park manager Bev Douglas spotted the iguana around 8:45 a.m.

:"His tail was hanging, and that�s what caught my eye," she said. "I thought it was a eucalyptus bark. But it had stripes, and I thought it was a kite or balloon. A friend got her binoculars, and I looked up at the tree and I said, �Oh my God!� "

:The green iguana, which is not dangerous, comes from Central and South America and is a popular pet on the Central Coast.

:A clerk at Pet Emporium on 41st Avenue in Capitola said he wouldn�t be surprised if the tree-bound lizard was freed by its owner because as iguanas mature, they become difficult to handle and their nails are like needle points.

:The green iguana can grow up to 6 feet in length and live 30 to 40 years.

:The seniors sought someone to pluck him from his perch. Both the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and County Animal Services advised them to call a tree trimmer to retrieve the iguana. Beavers Expert Tree Care and Removal said they would do it for $100.

:But pet experts say the iguana will be fine and with a little patience, he may be caught on the ground. Iguanas are clumsy on land but may be lured down with fruits and vegetables, they said.

:Seniors at Soquel Glen have had other brushes with nature, such as squirrels, buzzards and deer. But the iguana is a first.

:"People are not going to believe this," Vallerga said. "They�re going to think I�ve been hitting the sauce."

:For information, call Soquel Glen Mobile Home Park at 476-5044.

:Contact Ramona Turner at rturner@santa-cruz.com
:

Follow Ups:

Lizzy in 30 to 40 years, oh my. catsandlizards 07/31/02 (0)
Godzilla, my love, I hope to see you grow in grumpiness eyespy 07/30/02 (1)
- LOL!!!!n/m Flavia Guimaraes 07/30/02 (0)