Boys and Lizards
Right now in our kitchen if you look in the corner behind the back door, you can probably find a few lizard eggs. I'm not sure why mother lizard likes that little spot, and I've yet to see her gently placing her future babies on the ground. Lizards are all around us. I see at least one a day. They come in all shapes and sizes. Our old Black dog used to chase them from time to time. But they are so common that the dogs don't usually even pay them any mind. My favorite is one that lives behind my big buffet cupboard in the living room. It must have a good spot back there for catching bugs.
I'm not afraid of them, but there are many women in our town who are. They don't bite. They are helpful to the environment. They don't make much of a mess of any sort. And, they can be quite funny. Once when Uncle Byron was preaching in a church in Fortaleza, a very big lizard caused quite a commotion. Uncle Byron was just going to town with his sermon and felt like people were really paying attention until he saw that the eyes were not on him but rather on something just beyond. Behind him on the wall was a lizard eyeing a big bug. It would give a little step towards the bug, and pause. All of a sudden it took off and grabbed the oversized bug, but hard a hard time gulping it down it's undersized mouth. Uncle Byron stopped for a bit to let the lizard finish the drama before trying to continue his message. No, I have no clue about the outline of his message. I just remember the bug and the lizard.
When we first starting going out to the island, Tio Naldo and the boys found two small iguanas in the bottom of the little boat called the Surubim. There were lots of iguanas on the island at one time. A few times we even saw same fairly large ones. These two were wee little things and had apparently been on the boat while at the island, but now found themselves in Sobradinho. One was hurt where it seemed his little feet had been burned on the hot boat motor. I'm not sure about who suggested it and I don't know exactly who was present, but the "lizards" ended up at our house.
One was quickly dubbed "Motor" - the one with hurt feet. The other was called "Dinosaur." They were about four inches long. Uncle Byron researched about what they eat and Uncle Tim found an old glass house he had made for an iguana that his daughter had raised. And we became iguana owners. At first we thought Motor would croak because of his hurt feet, but he managed to survive. Dalton and William would take them out and pet them and talk to them but were careful not to let them escape. They grew and seemed happy enough.
At some point, the two got loose were never seen again. Then one day Motor showed back up. You can read about that here if you would like - on our homeschool blog:
Dinosaur escaped at few times but we would put out food on the porch and he would come back. After one incident, he seemed rather discontent and began to act a little mean. Iguanas have a fierce whacking movement they make with their prickly tails. He slashed the boys more than once. After his last run away incident we would see him in the big nut tree occasionally but decided it was time for him to be free. I would put some lettuce and fruits in the lowest crook of the tree from time to time. He grew to be much bigger and was sighted for the last time before one of our furloughs.
There are a few pictures and further explanation about the last return and escape at this blog post:
I'm not afraid of them, but there are many women in our town who are. They don't bite. They are helpful to the environment. They don't make much of a mess of any sort. And, they can be quite funny. Once when Uncle Byron was preaching in a church in Fortaleza, a very big lizard caused quite a commotion. Uncle Byron was just going to town with his sermon and felt like people were really paying attention until he saw that the eyes were not on him but rather on something just beyond. Behind him on the wall was a lizard eyeing a big bug. It would give a little step towards the bug, and pause. All of a sudden it took off and grabbed the oversized bug, but hard a hard time gulping it down it's undersized mouth. Uncle Byron stopped for a bit to let the lizard finish the drama before trying to continue his message. No, I have no clue about the outline of his message. I just remember the bug and the lizard.
When we first starting going out to the island, Tio Naldo and the boys found two small iguanas in the bottom of the little boat called the Surubim. There were lots of iguanas on the island at one time. A few times we even saw same fairly large ones. These two were wee little things and had apparently been on the boat while at the island, but now found themselves in Sobradinho. One was hurt where it seemed his little feet had been burned on the hot boat motor. I'm not sure about who suggested it and I don't know exactly who was present, but the "lizards" ended up at our house.
One was quickly dubbed "Motor" - the one with hurt feet. The other was called "Dinosaur." They were about four inches long. Uncle Byron researched about what they eat and Uncle Tim found an old glass house he had made for an iguana that his daughter had raised. And we became iguana owners. At first we thought Motor would croak because of his hurt feet, but he managed to survive. Dalton and William would take them out and pet them and talk to them but were careful not to let them escape. They grew and seemed happy enough.
At some point, the two got loose were never seen again. Then one day Motor showed back up. You can read about that here if you would like - on our homeschool blog:
Dinosaur escaped at few times but we would put out food on the porch and he would come back. After one incident, he seemed rather discontent and began to act a little mean. Iguanas have a fierce whacking movement they make with their prickly tails. He slashed the boys more than once. After his last run away incident we would see him in the big nut tree occasionally but decided it was time for him to be free. I would put some lettuce and fruits in the lowest crook of the tree from time to time. He grew to be much bigger and was sighted for the last time before one of our furloughs.
There are a few pictures and further explanation about the last return and escape at this blog post:
I hope you enjoyed this week's post. Wild pets can be an incredible learning experience for boys, but there always comes a time when they should be set free to go their merry way...
next week - The Turtle Came Back!
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