So That's Where They Hide

We always wondered where iguanas went at night. We thought they hid in bushes along the canal, or maybe in burrows or caves.

To get warm in this game, you've got to look a little higher. Say, about twenty or thirty feet higher up in the pine trees. Some stay in palm trees, and probably other trees as well.

A Secure Nighttime Roost

This photo is of one of the big boys in the neighborhood. He's probably a good four or five feet long, so that gives you an idea of his size and on a fairly flimsy looking branch at that.

Brought the Whole Family and A Couple of Friends For a Visit

Our local iguanas are sometimes hard to find. Not today. Today, the whole family came for a vist... Oh, and a snack. As long as I was going to be doling out some 'nanners' anyway. They also brought a couple of neighbors, a couple of Basilisk Lizards or Taluk, like the little guy below. They like bananas too, but they know their place and make sure to stay out of the iguana's way. They move fast too.

A Basilisk or Jesus Lizard Also Known Locally as a Taluk Lizard

Here's a  shot I took of several of the iguanas visiting today. We had either six or seven at one point. I chopped up about fourteen or fifteen apple bananas, from one of our trees, so everybody is busy chowing down on them. That helps make it easy to take photos of them.

Most of the Iguana Clan

According to several experts on FaceBook, only the males are called 'wish willies. However, according to several websites I scanned for this posting, the term 'wish willy' applies equally to males and females. Also, to nail it down once and for all, Karen, my cleaning lady, says that "Definitely, they're all 'wish willies." So there you have it.

A Hungry Not Quite Mature Male Enjoying Some Banana.

A Nice Shot of The Iguanas

A Couple of Young Ones Not Sure What's Going On

This guy's favorite roost is about twenty-five feet up our across-the-canal neighbor's pine tree, out to an extreme on a curved branch, He hangs on somewhat nonchalantly during some strong winds. They're very agile tree climbers, although sometimes coming down, they opt for a modified swan dive into the canal.

One of the Big Guys - 5 or 6 Feet long

Lots of 'Nanners' To Eat

I'm pretty sure the bright green one is a female, part of this big boy's harem.

Cute Couple

I'd write more but, Hey! Our pool is finally up to 84℉ today. You have to set your priorities. Time to put the swimming suits on.

NOTE: I've run into problems again posting replies to comments. So, during the interim, till I get this problem solved, here's my reply to Wilma's post:

Wilma, I'll take your comment as gospel, however vague it still is. So the males that are brownish gray-black may be wish willies, and the others might not be. But, so far no one's one hundred percent sure, one way or the other.

What definitely caught my eye was the 'pene doble,' bit. For some reason, putting that in Espanol seemed more, um, what's the word? Sexier? It bears further investigation. I've never heard of such a thing before.

It's Saturday That Counts

We always say 'TGIF', but for most workers here in Belize, it's really Saturday that marks the end of the workweek. So, it really is Saturday that counts, at least today, the first of October.

Final Two Column Forms Going Up

The last two column forms are going up. The guys are making every effort to save the Areca palm fronds as much as they can.

Final Nailing Together

The column form against the northwest corner of the pump house is quite complicated to assemble. It's not square and has either four or five sides to it. It's all just about ready for the pour.

Four On the West Side

Columns to the west of us.

Three on the East Side

Columns to the east.

Four on the North Side

And columns to the north.

Putting Chain Together

Not only are the guys assembling the odd-shaped column for the pump house, but they have to join it to the pump house roof chain, which is what they are doing here.

Pump House Corner - Complicated

Assembling the form down at ground level is no less a challenge.

Joining the Chain to Column Form

Another view of them joining the column with the chain form.

The Forest is Growing

The forest of sticks is growing. These are the supports used to hold up the roof form while the roof is cast.

The Forest Canopy

Here's the roof form. It's almost done. There'll be plenty more sticks before the actual casting occurs.

Indir Measuring for the Beam

While all that was going on, Indir was going around to each column and marking the top line for positioning the beam forms. That will start to happen on Monday.

The Big Boy Came to Visit

We had quite a treat this afternoon. The big boy of the local pack of iguanas, came by for a visit. He's about six feet from stem to stern.
Luckily, I had a batch of old bananas still on hand in the fridge that I could give him. The chill of the fridge has kept them in a still edible (to iguanas, at least) form. They're black on the outside, but no mold or anything. Anyway, he was happy and began munching on them as soon as I tossed them down for him.
I went back and got my camera to take a photo of him. He's been around enough that he knows I won't chase him or anything like that, so he had no problem with me getting about two feet away from him to snap this photo. He's just a superb example of iguanahood, isn't he?
So, it's now, the weekend. The workers have left and won't be back till Monday. Quiet at last. Enjoy your weekend. Eat a banana.

One of the Guys In the Hood

Just thought you might like to see one of our neighbors. He's one of the bigger iguanas, but certainly not the largest. Just out for a stroll.

One of Our Neighborhood Iguanas

Just When You Thought It Was Safe

Along comes something kinda fun to do. As soon as I saw the instructions on Instructables (http://www.instructables.com) something told me I just had to give it a go. So I did. And here's the result.

A Nice Virgin Watermelon

  First, I downloaded the instructions, complete with pictures, then got some sharp knives and very carefully hacked away at it.

First Couple of Cuts and Then Some

Then I carefully cut about a half-inch of skin from around the opening. Then, after also carefully scooping out the innards, I cut the teeth. You can see where this is going.

It's Done and Ready

Since I got it done a bit early, I popped it into the fridge, so it stays nice and cool.

Hard to Find Space For It

Oh, I almost forgot, the leftover watermelon. Some of it diced up, some just scooped out and kind of mangled. Too much to save, but I knew just the guys who'd like it. So, I took two bowl-fulls out to the dock and spread them all over for the iguanas. Turns out the grackles kind of like watermelon too.

Anyway, it's all ready for pool time, so, for those who show up... Enjoy.

Everything's Back To Normal

Sun's out, breeze should be blowing, but it's calm and hot. Our window plywood has been stowed for the next emergency, and the pool awning has been unfurled and is keeping the deck relatively cool.

Even the resident iguanas are out sunning themselves - and driving the dogs crazy.

They're Baaaack!

I caught this fellow just coming up onto the dock this morning. He doesn't look any the worse for wear. They've had a rough go of it lately. Several canal-side lots were leveled, so there were dozers disturbing their burrows (assuming of course that they live in such), then T/S Harvey. Although Harvey was not really much of anything. We've gotten more rain and wind out of just an afternoon thunderstorm. Of course, if we'd been closer to Harvey, it would have been strong enough.

Anyway, life is back to normal. After working up a sweat getting everything put away for the next storm, it's off to the shower and then pooltime! Yea!

Some Critters Around The Joint

Our neighbor, Regina, has been active photographing some of the local denizens who hang around here.She was kind enough to let me post them. I thought you might find them interesting.

First up, one of the many frigate birds who keep watch over our coastline, day in and day out.

One of the Many Frigate Birds

 Next, one of our many vultures. They are very beautiful and graceful on the wing and ugly as all get out when they're walking around on the ground. They do provide a valuable service however. There's one who seems to delight in swooping low over our place, which drives Cindy just crazy each time.

One of Our Scavengers - A Vulture

This poor little gibnut was pooped out and somewhat bloody by the time Regina took its picture. It had gotten trapped inside their fence and bloodied its face and was thoroughly exhausted. They had a gate open for it to escape but it kept trying to go through the fence. Finally, just after the picture was taken, it managed to find the gate and made good its escape.

A Pooped Gibnut

One of our big boys who hang out on our canal dock, usually in the afternoons in the sun and warmest part of the day.

One of the Iguanas Hanging By the Canal

 Here's another view of the same guy. He's about four-feet long too and is just sure that he owns everything in sight.

Another Shot of This Feller

Thanks for sharing, Regina. I appreciate it.