The Iguana

Assalm alykom:

When I moved to South Florida, I did not expect to see iguanas as part of the habitat. When my husband first told me that he saw a bunch of them near the masjid, I wanted to go and see them. There is a walking trail that has a canal. This trail is right next to the masjid. The kids and I decided to take a look one day. Since that day, we started to research about these amazing creatures that Allah created. For one, they are definitely not native to South Florida. They are escaped or neglected pets that thrive in the tropical climate. However, it is interesting to mention, that since they are not native to Florida, they do not have any natural predators. Therefore, they just keep multiplying.

With a little research we discovered that they are not an aggressive animal. They like the warm weather and you will find them sunning on the hottest of days. Than can grow very large and look quite frightening. They look almost as big as a small alligator. They are herbivores, and will only dine on your flowers and your mango trees. If they are cornered, they may scratch or bite, if they feel threatened. We read that many residents do not like them and will have a trapper come and remove them. All the pictures that you see her are from my 11 year old son Nour. After snapping these picture, he thought he might like to become a wildlife photographer.



This one is quite large here. The big ones appeared to be orange and the smaller ones were green













I did not know they could swim, but this one was swimming away down the canal.














Can you spot the one here? I will give you a hint: He is green.














Do your own research on this interesting reptile. For school, it would make a nice research report.