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Posted by desiree on October 08, 2002 at 11:53:17:
Sunday drivers receive a roadside surprise
10/8/2
By Terrill Covey
newsletter@seacoastonline.com
HAMPTON FALLS - Although the summer tourist season in the Seacoast has come to an end and the leaves aren’t yet ripe for peeping, the town of Hampton Falls had a surprise tourist last week.
A 1½-foot iguana was reported meandering along Drinkwater Road on Sept. 29. The animal just beat the afternoon commute, as police received the call at about 4:50 p.m.
"It was a very unusual call," Police Chief Rob Dirsa told the Hampton Falls selectmen at their meeting on Oct. 2. "We weren’t able to locate the owner, so the people who found it are now taking care of the animal."
Dirsa said the person who found the animal called police to inform them of the unique find.
"It was kind of an odd call," Dirsa said. "That’s not something you usually see."
Selectman Maurice Caruso said the iguana in question may not be the only one wandering the countryside in Hampton Falls.
"I know about someone who had a 4-foot-long iguana that fell out of a second-story window, and they haven’t been able to find it," Caruso said. "If this one was only a foot and a half, then it’s not the same one."
Dirsa said the police received a call for an unusual animal on the loose once before.
"A couple years ago, there was a loose emu running around town for a couple weeks," Dirsa said. "Luckily, the fire chief at the time was able to capture it in a manner that it couldn’t bite or kick him. I guess they have a pretty violent kick when they are scared."
Dirsa said the both the case of the kicking emu and that of the wandering iguana were handled without incident.
The iguana was caught before the police were even at the scene, and the animal control officer knew the person who owned the emu, so they were able to capture the bird without incident.
"It was pretty funny, though," Dirsa said. "For a while there, we were getting calls from people telling us there was a big bird wandering through their yard."
He added that while the situations are somewhat amusing, the right thing for people to do when they see a strange animal is to contact the Police Department and let them know.
