Monkeys, Bobbers, and Big Tree Area

New group today: Big Tree Area with requisite iguanas, hide holes, and open area for basking.  A mix of females, a couple males, and lo, some younger lizards. 

You may be able to make out the bits of watermelon, and the young iguana trying a taste. This method nicely leads the iguana into the trap with minimal fuss. Unless, of course, a more dominant animal sees you eating something that might be worth giving you chase, and gets trapped instead. Useful for me, but could make it interesting trying to catch the younger lizards.

The Big Tree Area hosted a band of white-faced monkeys who stole trap bait and ran off with a colored fishing bobber up a tree. It was dropped in disgust when it provided no nourishment.

White-Orange-Green (WOG), the first female caught in the Big Tree Area, decided the Wire Box of Treats was great fun! She was more than willing to be caught multiple times for a bite of fruit. 

WOG was nice enough to also let me see several bouts of agonistic behaviors...it appears she is top dog at Big Tree.

Six in the Day

Red-Red-Red. Young and wily female, full tail with no regrowth. 

This warm day, I caught 6 iguanas: 1 large male, 5 females. I scouted and identified three different groups to concentrate my trapping, noosing, and netting. 

Yesterday's unknown male, now Blue-Blue-Blue (B-B-B).

B-B-B's funky regrown tail.

The iguana that shares a refuge with a snake finds humans less than desirable.

This is the first part/where the wheels begin to turn

Male C. similis, soon to be a known lizard.

I am here at Palo Verde -- CO to TX to Liberia, car trip to PV National Park, and an afternoon of scouting iguanas. The herp gods saw to deliver all field equipment in good repair, the weather is sunny, warm, and breezy, and lizards are active.

I've seen hide holes under cement, boards, in tree roots, and pipes. Males and females of different sizes (likely different age classes). Other reptiles also  make use of pipes, close to a gravid female:

Tomorrow -- first iguana catches and gps coordinates of refugia.

The slim gray hermit of the rocks, With bright, inquisitive, quick eyes

Two females and male C. similis basking, and gazing in different directions.

Clearly, this gray lizard is no hermit. And if you're not a hermit, just what is your community?

I'm off tomorrow for Palo Verde National Park in Costa Rica to start ground work to answer that big question -- what is the social structure of C. similis and WHY? 

Female C. similis.

She offers me her sixth sense, Her vigilance

Female C. similis basking.

Are the Three Graces a Greek Chorus as they perform vigilance behaviors? We don't yet know. Each lizard more likely scans their immediate area without synchronizing activity, lending more eyes to predator detection and male mating offensives.

Like humans, iguanas may be startled by a loud sound or sudden motion, but the interesting vigilance is the glance-around-the-restaurant-to-see-who-is-where inclination of individuals in groups. How often do you scan? do you scan more if you are seated near the front door and less if you are near the kitchen? What do you ignore? What starts your inner sixth sense humming, suggesting emerging trouble? How much do you rely on the nervous, sidelong glance and posture of your neighbor? And how many individuals makes for enough vigilance cover so you can enjoy your evening meal -- or great basking spot in the case of a large lizard?

Female (front) and Male (rear) C. similis, four eyes covering all cardinal directions.

How to Catch An Iguana

Leggings, feather cap, a cap and a sword: NOT! After all, the point of catching the iguanas is to measure and mark them, to create a network of individuals that may then reveal their cryptic sociality. I shall slay no large lizards on my adventure.

Still, it's fun to think of an iguana the size of an adult Komodo dragon!

I'll use tried-and-true capture methods -- land netting, noosing, and humane trapping. With t-shirt, hiking boots, and long pants. My countenance, demure. When the deed is over, the iguana and I will not speak of it again.

How to Avoid the Business End

When your study animal has 80-100 sharp teeth with serrated edges, and you need two hands to measure, bead, and add a PIT tag, a nifty immobilization board comes to fruition. This will secure the iguana, help me collect my data, add ID markers efficiently, and get the lovely lizard back to his or her life as quickly as possible.