Fun with iguanas

So you already know, if you're one of my regulars, that we have a gazillion iguanas running all over the place here from sunup to sundown (iguanas, being exothermic animals as they are, don't go running around during the cold of night). We eat lots of veggies around here, and used to give veg scraps to our chickens and rabbits, who, sadly, are no longer with us. I hate to waste anything, and it pains me to throw perfectly compostable scraps in the trash, but having a compost heap here isn't really feasible with all of the dogs (they'd just dig in it and make a total mess). So I was thrilled when I realized that iguanas will eat just about anything vegetable- and fruit-wise. Apple cores, grapes and strawberries that have gone too soft, lettuce that's lost its lustrous green hue -- all are fair game for iguanas. We've made it a habit to keep the scraps in a bowl next to the kitchen sink, and then take them out each morning and throw them on the roof for the iguanas (I know, it sounds weird even when I write it! Throw food scraps on the roof? Yes, yes we do.). Until yesterday, I hadn't actually seen any iguanas eating the scraps, though I knew they did, because they'd be gone within a few hours. But yesterday morning, we'd thrown some watermelon scraps and too-brown bananas up there, and I heard scrabbling on the tiled roof right away. I looked up, and sure enough a smallish (about a foot long) iguana was scrambling all over the place, picking up every last piece of watermelon! It was so cute! When he/she had finished all of the watermelon, he/she (how do you tell the sex of an iguana? I have no clue.) grabbed an entire banana in his/her mouth and took off over the back side of the house into the empty lot next door. So cool.

Who needs gargoyles when you have real, live lizards protecting your house?