Help! An Iguana is eating my squash!

[annecros]

Man oh man! I was having a real pest problem with a new raised bed. I would go out at various times of day, and stuff had been munched on. It sort of looked like the typical caterpillar damage at first, so I treated with Bt with zero results. Resorted to Sevin, that seemed to work for a couple of days, but the damage kept happening.

Well, we caught the culprit read handed! A freaking juvenile green iguana! We ran him up a tree, and snapped a pick.

Now, those of you familiar with critter trapping, any advice would be helpful. This is a special raised bed I intend to plant with a rare variety of Heirloom Tomato this Fall, and I just can't have this!

From left to right, the monster who must die, what he does to cantaloupe, how he handles my summer squash, and finally the great okra massacre.

[robin303]

Call a pet store and sometimes they will send somebody out. Could be somebodies pet.

[annecros]

No, afraid not. We have a feral (and invasive) population here in South Florida. The pet stores don't want them because they carry disease (salmonella), the Fish and Wildlife people won't handle them, because they are on the International Endangered List. If you do trap them, you are not allowed to release them because they are also on the invasive species list.

And to top it all off - you have to dispatch them "humanely" and they do not consider pellet guns, crossbows and such humane.

I wonder if strangling is humane?

[robin303]

What a weird strange problem. My cat brings in birds, lizards, rabbits and large bugs. I’m on burial detail 3 to 4 times a week.

[tomatoguy]

Have you considered investing in a small terrier, say a Yorkie or a Silky? They would indeed dispatch this invader. Humanely, who can say? Our Yorkie certainly keeps the rabbits away. The native skink population here isn't interested in the garden, fortunately.

mater

[gssgarden]

A mouse trap? Just a guess.

Greg

[dcarch]

Rubber snakes? Plastic birds-of-prey?

dcarch

[annecros]

Thanks guys.

I read somewhere that garlic can be used as a deterrent, so I steeped some last night, and this morning sprayed the plants and drenched the mulch. It didn't seem to like the taste of Sevin too much, so maybe that will help until we can catch and dispatch it.

We do have a pit bull, and she got after him yesterday while we were chasing him off, but ultimately lost him. She's a little older and doesn't see as well as she used to. It's a sneaky little sucker. Hubby, dog and I walked up to the raised bed and were looking over the plants looking for new damage, talking the entire time. We missed him in our first once over, and hubby spotted him when he walked down to the other end of the raised bed and looked from a different direction.

"Look at that Anne! That's what's chomping your stuff!"

He then went to grab it by the tail, and it took off like a flash, so we sicced the dog on it. I think the dog would have an easier time with it if it were a little bigger. This one is maybe a foot long nose to tail. She's accustomed to seeing lizards all the time. She might consider rubber snakes chew toys, but it's worth a try.

Hubby is looking into snares, and this guy on the intercoastal has killed hundreds of them:

http://www.iguanatrap.com/index.html

Will keep you guys posted.

[huntoften]

Sorry...can't resist...one of my favorite song lyrics:

"here I was in Tijuana, eating barbecued Iguana!"

Critters that eat my plants usually get eaten! Had fried rabbit yesterday for lunch!

Here's some recipes I found:

Green Iguana

The Green Iguana is a large South American vegetarian lizard. It is fast becoming a common site in the Florida Keys. Since they are exotics they are not protected. Just be careful since hunting with firearms in the Keys is not legal. And you would not want to be accused of animal cruelty. Anyway if you happen to have an Iguana ready to become a feast try one of these recipes. Sopi Di Yuwana (Iguana Soup)

1 Iguana
1 1/2 quarts of iguana broth (or chicken broth)
2 Chicken bouillon cubes
1 Clove of garlic
1 Leek
1 Tomato, coarsely chopped
1 Onion, studded with 3 cloves
1 Green Pepper, quartered
1/4 small Cabbage
1 tsp Cumin
1 dash Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper
2 oz Vermicelli Kill, clean, skin and cut the Iguana into serving pieces.
Prepare chicken broth in heavy kettle, add garlic, leek, tomato, onion, green pepper and cabbage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for thirty minutes. Add the iguana, and simmer an additional half hour, or until the meat is tender. Remove from the fire. Strain broth, discarding vegetables. Bone the iguana and set the meat aside.
Return the broth to the fire and add cumin, nutmeg, vermicelli and salt and pepper. Simmer for about five minutes until the vermicelli is tender. Add the iguana and heat thoroughly. Serve piping hot with Funchi (Corn meal mush).
Yield: 6 servings
Iguana Stew

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients
1 iguana
1 lg onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tomatoes
2 green peppers
4 ts achiote oil
1 pn pepper
1 salt -- to taste

Instructions
Make the achiote oil by frying the achiote slowly until the oil is red. Cook Iguana in salted water until the meat is tender (take care not to let it get too soft). 4. cut in portions. 5. Season with all the above ingredients and cook with about 1 cup water, until almost dry.

[annecros]

hehe, yeah, I understand some of the people in the islands call them "tree chickens" or something of that nature.

I'm not hungry enough right now to snack on this one, and quite frankly he doesn't seem to have enough meat on his bones to make it worth the trouble.

Wasn't that song "Mexican Radio" or something? I can't remember the artist. Back in the day when MTV was still a baby, and played videos all day.

[Vince]

That is awesome. Not your plants being eaten, but I just can't imagine having those pests where I live. I thought squirrels and gophers were bad.

[coronabarb]

I'll take an iguana over these gosh darnoodley gophers any day! Here's to hoping you catch it SOON!

[annecros]

Still not caught and disposed of - had a couple of other pests in the interim.

Welcome to Florida!

After talking to people, the closer you are to water sources the more you iguanas you have. Joy.

Hubby swears there are at least two of them. He thinks he spotted one that was larger out front before it became an issue. He thought it was neat.

I don't know if he got spooked enough by the dog and us yelling and screaming to keep him off the prop for now or not.

Overripe bananas for bait. We shall see.

[Aphid]

I have a 4 footer not counting the tail (thats even longer and deadly), his name is Stymie
they love cantelope and butternut squash, but the ultimate is hibiscus flowers , thats like candy to an iguana.

I have heard they are tastey- "Iguana" translates to "chicken of the tree"

please don't hurt him, they are extreemly tame really