I had briefly mentioned it before, but one of my new pastimes is hunting and catching small green iguanas. Britton thinks I am crazy, but I really do like to do it. So far this has just been a catch and release practice, but maybe someday we will grill up some iguana tail pinchos (kabobs). These lizards are invasive to the island and are everywhere! There is hardly a day that goes by that we don’t see them on the ground or in the trees! So I have plenty of opportunities for the hunt.
An iguana and his tail
The key to catching these iguanas is to be quick and to divert their attention. You can’t be timid. You must strike like a ninja. I watched the white Garza (cattle egret) birds hunting for the geckos and found that they strike once and don’t waver.
Watching these birds taught me a thing or two about lizard hunting. I can even catch the little gecko lizards as well
So I grab at the tail and hold on for dear life. They will twist and twist and try and snap at your fingers, but if you hang on to the top of the tail you will have him for as long as you want him. If he twists too much, he will break away the tail and run off. It is really weird when this happens because the tail keeps twitching and moving around like a snake for about 5 minutes! In this video, I had caught him but the tail twisted off so I tried again and scored!
The next level up would be to catch the big guys, but I am not sure I am quite ready to be grabbing at these ones just yet!
A little meaner looking, doncha think?
You are not only very quick ( I have never been that fast to actually catch them), but also brave. They do have teeth they can latch on. I have seen poor Mocha crying because they had a hold of her. So those big ones might be dangerous. I understand the meat sells for $40.00 a pound. Could be a new income source.
Wow…..you are good!!!! And real brave…..I can catch lizards but an iguana…wow….speechless….too bad they are so destructive, they are beautiful.
You’d be doing the island a favor to capture and kill these as they probably eliminate many song birds or their offspring.
Uhm, iguanas are vegi lizards not meat eaters
Checked wikipedia to be sure. Wild iguanas are mostly herbivore, but are known to eat bird eggs. According to w, “In February 2012, the government of Puerto Rico proposed that the islands’ iguanas, which were said to have a population of four million and considered to be a non-native nuisance, be eradicated and sold for meat.[40][41]”.
I heard that you can bring iguanas to the government for a decent amount of $ per pound because they want them eradicated, but I am not 100% sure that is true. 🙂
The neighborhood i live in wants them gone and so do I. Is ther a trap or. A trick please reply.
Some people shoot them with pellet guns and eat the tail and leg meat. I bet you could devise a trap of some sort too. If you need them out of a garden the best bet would probably be to put chicken wire around it, including over it.
Are you sure they are invasive to your island and not just native? People. Often think that because a species is abundant, it means they’re invasive, and anyway, you should just keep them as pets. They’re amazing. Please don’t kill them, they don’t deserve that.
Goin to get some chicken of the trees!