Iguana

“ Along the road iguana, the sparkle in their eyes jeweling the tropic night, pursued shy, petty quests. And from the hedge came the silken slither of snakes about to lather with foam and strike some legless sheep or ox left by the mutinous pack. ”

“ On and on you go, through groves of palm trees, tied together by entwined lianas, looking, for all the world, like motionless boa constrictors, and on which countless tiny lizards, or harmless little snakes, glisten in the sunlight. Now and then a flying squirrel flashes past, or a monster bat is disturbed, or you form the acquaintance of an ugly old iguana, who winks at you with a knowing eye, and withdraws, as suddenly as he appeared, behind a trap door of broad glossy leaves. ”

“ Here we were courteously met by two of the original owners, one of them an iguana, a great, heavy lizard, which bolted up a tree, and the other a kangaroo, who stood among the brushwood, his ears rotating with emotion, while he gazed upon our halted car. From the summit of the hill one has a wonderful view of the ranges stretching away to the horizon in all directions, while at one's feet lies the very wide spread city. ”

“ The Iguana now proves itself less passive than usual, for when it finds its confidence deceived, and itself captured, it exerts itself with violence, rolls its sparkling eyes, and inflates its throat; but such efforts are useless, the huntsman manages to tie its fore -feet together, and to secure them under the creature's throat, so that it can neither fly nor fight. If taken alive, it appears at first sullen and intractable, but after a time becomes domesticated, and runs about the house and garden with as much confidence as a cat. ”

“ Sumichrast completed this information by telling the young naturalist that the iguana, which is allied to the lizards, is generally a yard in length; and that the female lays thirty to forty eggs, which are much esteemed by the native epicures; also that the green species—Iguana rhinolopha—has a flat, thin tail, and swims much better than the black variety, the tail of which, being covered with spines, is not well adapted for progression through water. ”

“ Any species of the genus Iguana, a genus of large American lizards of the family Iguanidæ. They are arboreal in their habits, usually green in color, and feed chiefly upon fruits.
The common iguana (Iguana iguana, formerly Iguana tuberculata, and also called by other synonyms of the West Indies and South America is sometimes five feet long. Its flesh is highly prized as food. The horned iguana (Iguana cornuta) has a conical horn between the eyes. ”

“ The ass was laden with the iguana and the bustard; and little Franz, tired as he was, looked in vain for a spare seat on its back.
Our road home lay through a majestic forest of oak trees, beneath which lay numberless acorns, some of which we gathered as we went along; and at length, before night closed in, we all reached Falconhurst in safety.
When supper was ready, we were thankful to recruit our exhausted strength by eating heartily of a piece of broiled iguana, with potatoes and roast acorns, which tasted like excellent chestnuts. ”

“ The iguana is a very large and very ugly-looking lizard, which is found all through the American tropics. It measures fully five feet in length, its body being over two feet, and its long tapering tail nearly three. It is covered with scales, and its usual color is green shaded with brown. Iguanas possess, however, to an extent exceeded only by the chameleon, the power of changing their colors, the brilliant green becoming transformed in an instant, through the influence of fear or anger, into darker hues, or even into black. ”

“ Mungoongarlee the Iguana and Ouyouboolooey the Black Snake
When the animals were first on the earth they were very much bigger than they are now. In those days the bite of a snake was not poisonous, but that of an iguana was. Mungoongarlee, the largest kind of iguana, which even now in its comparatively dwarfed condition measures five feet or so from tongue to tail, was, by reason of his poisonous bite, quite a terror in the land. His favourite food was the flesh of black fellows, whom he used to kill in numbers. ”

“ The iguana is a lizard which feeds on fruits and vegetables. It grows to three or four feet in length, and is an ugly looking creature. It will not fight unless you compel it to do so. It does not live in the water, but in trees, bushes, and in the cracks and fissures of rocks. Sometimes hunters build fires at the entrance of their hiding places and smoke them out. The flesh, when cooked, resembles chicken or veal, and is a popular dish with the natives. ”

“ An iguana of between two and three feet long, which lay upon the branch of a high tree watching for its prey, was the sole animal killed; but the mud banks are frequented at low water by sea pies of both kinds, curlews, and small cranes. ”

“ There are but few species of Iguanas found in the United States and these only in the southwestern part. They are large in size and have a crest of spiny scales running along the neck and back. They use their tails as weapons of offense and defense. The Cape Iguana is a species found only in Lower California. The tail is ringed with large spines. The Black Iguana is found in southern Arizona. [154] It is a great fighter when at bay and is then no mean antagonist. It does not invite a fight, however, but will run if there is any chance of escape. ”

“ Along with several other species, notably Ctenosura acanthinura, which is omnivorous, likewise called iguana, the common iguana, is much sought after in tropical America; the natives esteem its flesh a delicacy, and capture it by slipping a noose round its neck as it sits in fancied security on the branch of a tree. ”

“ Iguanas, however, are extremely common everywhere throughout the country. They are especially numerous in the neighbourhood of villages, where they climb about fruit-trees overrun with creepers. The eggs, which are oblong, and about an inch and a half in length, are laid in hollow trees, and are very pleasant eating taken raw and mixed with farinha. The colour of the skin in the Iguana changes like that of the chameleon; in fact, it is called chameleon by the Portuguese. It grows to a length of five feet, and becomes enormously fat. ”

“ The native hunters say that if you shout at an iguana he does not move or take any notice, but if you point at him and whisper, “Look, there is an iguana,” he will run away at once. An iguana never runs more than about fifty yards at a time ”

“ One traveler relates that along the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua, when a person is going in a canoe up some of the narrow, unfrequented creeks, he encounters quite a shower of iguanas, and runs some risk of getting his neck broken, for a big iguana will weigh twenty-five pounds or more. Their flesh, resembling that of chicken, is a favorite article of food and iguanas are constantly brought to rural markets. The family contains about 300 species. ”

“ The great lizards, sometimes called guanas in India, are apparently monitors. It must be observed, however, that approximating Indian names of lizards have helped the confusion. Thus the large monitor to which the name guana is often applied in India, is really called in Hindi goh (Skt. godhā) , Singhalese goyā. The true iguana of America is described by Oviedo in the first quotation under the name of iuana. [The word is Span. iguana, from Carib iwana, written in early writers hiuana, igoana, iuanna or yuana. See N.E.D. and Stanf. Dict.] ”

“ When we consider that the largest living Iguana rarely exceeds five feet in length, whilst the congenerous fossil animal must have been nearly twelve times as long, we cannot but be impressed by the discovery of a resemblance, amounting almost to identity, between such characteristic organs as the teeth, in one of the most enormous among the extinct reptiles of the fossil world, and those of a genus whose largest species is comparatively so diminutive. ”

“ From the resemblance of these teeth in their general form to those of the Iguana, a common land lizard in the West Indies, I subsequently proposed the name of Iguanodon (implying an animal having teeth like the Iguana) for the fossil reptile. The teeth of an Iguana four or five feet long are not larger than those of a mouse; the Iguanodon's teeth are as large as the incisors of the rhinoceros. The Iguana's teeth, when used, are chipped off at the points, no existing reptile being capable of performing mastication ”

“ See yonder hideous-faced creature, nearly six feet in length, the size of many alligators, its head covered with scaly plates, a huge dewlap depending from its throat, its body and long tail covered with small imbricated scales, its back garnished with a row of spines, and on its thigh a number of porous tubercles, while its legs and claws are wide-spreading.
As it crawls along a bough overhead, the bravest man who had never before seen it would undoubtedly get out of its way, expecting it to leap down and seize him. Yet the iguana, ugly as is its countenance, is perfectly harmless ”

“ The iguana buries them, eighteen or twenty together, in a hole in the sand, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun.
The little ones are left to take care of themselves as best they can. Humboldt, the great traveller and naturalist, found nests of young iguanas which were apparently just hatched. They were not over four inches long, and were very spry little things, and much prettier than later on in their lizard life.
The iguana will never attack an enemy, but when cornered, is a valiant fighter. ”

“ The large teguexin lizard of the pampas, called iguana by the country people, is a notable snake-killer. Snakes have in fact, no more formidable enemy, for he is quick to see, and swift to overtake them. He is practically invulnerable, and deals them sudden death with his powerful tail. The gauchos say that dogs attacking the iguana are sometimes known to have their legs broken, and I do not doubt it. A friend of mine was out riding one day after his cattle, and having attached one end of his lasso to the saddle, He let it trail on the ground. ”

“ Though snaring big lizards is not perhaps within the strict limits of what may properly be called true sport, still I must say that for real excitement, eager earnestness of pursuit, and genuine pleasure at the capture, I have never experienced before nor since anything approaching the hunter’s joy excited by this morning’s pot hunt for an iguana. ”

“ In Guiana there are said to be lizards of the size of five or six feet; but that species which is here called the iguana, and by the Indians the wayamaca, is seldom above three feet long. From the head to the extremity of the tail, it is covered over with small scales, reflecting very brilliant colours in the sun; the back and legs are of a dark blue, the sides and belly of a yellowish kind of green, as also the bag or loose skin which hangs under its throat. It is spotted in many parts with brown and black, and its eyes are a beautiful pale red, while the claws are of a deep chesnut colour. ”

“ The Iguana (Cyclura colei) is not only of singular aspect, but it may be regarded as the type of a large and important group in the Saurian family, which formed so conspicuous a feature in the ancient fauna of this country. The iguana attains a large size in Jamaica, whence the present specimen was obtained, not unfrequently approaching four feet in length. In colour it is a greenish grey. It is entirely herbivorous, as are all its congeners. ”

“ Most Cuban travellers make acquaintance with the frightful-looking, but perfectly harmless iguana, at some friend's house, where he occasionally joins the family circle in the capacity of prime domestic pet. As to the lizards, they are exceedingly well represented, both in gardens and in woods, from the charming, bright-eyed little metallic green and blue opidian, to a very large and ugly brown old lady and gentleman—they usually go abroad in pairs—to be met with in your walks, and which the uninitiated are apt to mistake for a couple of miniature crocodiles. ”

“ There is a lizard called the iguana, which is sometimes five or six feet long, and is as delicious as lobster or chicken; its eggs are much prized by the natives, and frequently seen in the markets. Americans who come here are generally chary of eating iguana, because it is a lizard; we have got over this difficulty by naming it 'Panama lobster,' and thus silencing all objections. There's a great deal in a name. ”

“ It is often eaten by the natives, and in its turn devours their fowls. Curiously enough, there is a real iguana in the Fiji Islands—one of the puzzles of animal distribution, for the Iguana family of vegetable-eating lizards is otherwise confined to Tropical America and Madagaskar. The seas of Malaysia [33] and of Polynesia (as far south as the New Zealand coasts) swarm at times with different types of real sea-serpents, that is to say, snakes that live entirely in the water and resort only to the shore to give birth to their young, which are born alive. ”

“ The favorite haunts of the iguana are the Ceiba, and the Sand-box trees—Ura crepitans—both bristling with sharp thorns, a good protection against the persecution of predatory boys; otherwise these lizards fall an easy prey, when perched upon more accessible localities, by merely “whistling for them;” for being, as it appears, very fond of musical sounds, they are readily lulled to sleep by that means, while the captors prepare a noose at the end of a long rod with which they secure their victim. ”

“ The iguana never sits upon her eggs; the young ones come out without that; the mother does not feed her young ones. The blacks generally keep out of the way of the iguana when it is savage or angry. When it is very angry it makes a hissing noise. It will sometimes run after any one who is trying to kill it. ”