It’s Funny… or Maybe It Isn’t
This morning’s USA Today article on non-native iguanas tearing up Boca Grande, Florida left me chuckling.
It’s funny to hear about someone’s space being invaded by mini-dinosaurs–especially ones that know how to defend themselves–but at the same time… it really isn’t funny.
Why?
Because it’s just one instance of how individuals don’t realize or care about the long term impact of what they do.
In this case, “Residents, animal-control officers and reptile experts agree the original source of the Mexican spiny-tailed iguanas — not to be confused with the docile, green iguanas native to the Caribbean — was a trio of pet lizards released by a local homeowner in the mid-1970s. Three decades later, 13,000 iguanas have taken up residence in Boca Grande and surroundings on Gasparilla Island. That’s more than double the town’s population of people, including “snowbird” residents who live there during the peak winter months.”
And if that isn’t bad enough “Each female has her own chamber and can lay 50-80 eggs, three times per mating season, Jackson says.”
So by the end of summer Boca Grande may truly be an iguana’s paradise. I’m sure there is some company out there that could use a cute iguana as their spokesper… er… critter.
Okay… so let’s get serious for a moment or two.
I’m sure that when the people who brought those orignal three iguanas to Boca Grande they didn’t see a problem with it. But then for some reason (they got too big, too mean, too expensive to feed?) these people decided to release them into the wild. Did they think their pampered pets didn’t stand a chance at surviving? Did they think about the impact if they did survive? My guess is no.
What other options did they have? Hmmm… They could have taken them to a local animal shelter and put up for adoption. They could have contacted a zoo to see if they could find a better home. They could have taken the iguanas to a vet to be euthanised. They could have killed the animals themselves. They could have done many things besides release the creatures into the wild.
Too many times people leave their problems at the curb and hope/expect someone else will take care of the problem. Unfortunately, by the time someone else discovers the problem it’s grown into something much bigger and more challenging to manage. That usually means it’s more expensive to resolve.
So when you have a problem, whether it’s iguanas or an overdue car payment, take responsibility for it. Contact people who can help you resolve it (don’t just complain to friends). Keep looking for answers until you find one that solves the problems.
The people who left those three iguanas to fend for themselves may have felt bad or sad about what they were doing. They may have missed the critters and wondered how they were fairing. But I’m sure they feel worse knowing that their actions have resulted in damage to the environment, personal property and destruction of these creatures.
When I first read the article about these iguanas I thought it was funny. Now I just think it’s sad. What do you think?
