Dec 5, 2009

Critters





We have a regular parade of four legged friends through our house and back yard.
The prettiest is this little gray fox, who comes by a couple of times a day. She is usually on her own, but sometimes is joined by the male. She is only the size of a cat, very timid, and when we throw out bread crusts, retreats to the jungle, then trots out and sometimes passes within ten feet of where we are standing, loading up her jaws with two or three pieces and heading back out of sight. We keep Pippin under control and while he is curious, is okay to wait on the palapa step.

The most plentiful are the little geckos, from the smallest, barely an inch to perhaps 5 inches long. They climb about our walls and ceiling and are busy catching flies and bugs. They also chirp quite a bit. One morning, we opened our fridge and found this little guy nestled in our egg tray.

My other favorite are the iguanas. I have photographed many and even have one as my laptop screen saver. I admire their wise, inscrutable expressions. They do look like they have been here for thousands of years, and we are the green horns.
There are a couple dozen iguanas resident on and in the rocks that make up the boat dock down at the beach. Others scavenge around the park. Their only sins are eating flower petals and leaving their poop. They are sometimes tamed by regular feeding, but are wary of dogs. There has been one climbing around our place recently, and when, a couple days ago, he came down the stairs from the loft, Pippin gave pursuit. The little lizard got his windmill legs in motion and was well ahead before we stopped Pippin. P remained on smell alert for several hours. I think it may have been the first creature he has successfully chased away.

1 comment:

norm said...

Nice fox photo. They are good to have around as they eat rats and mice.