There I was after coming home from running an errand and I saw my neighbor running around like crazy. Sitting in my car wondering if, “what is the absolute hell is going on with her today?“ As I got out of my car, after collecting my purse and my now seven month old puppy I quickly realized something was very wrong. in the picture above, this is what she found when she went to take the trashcan down to the curb. A giant bearded dragon who appear to be holding court for all of the Florida lizards or “green kitchen lizards” (as some might call them). She didn’t care what it was she just wanted it gone, and I don’t blame her one bit. It was very clearly somebody’s pet at one point in time given how docile it was and that it didn’t run away the second anyone tried to approach it. However, I was not going to be the one to attempt to pick it up. We sought out the help of our neighbor who happened have an appropriate size box. He scooped it up and we closed the box leaving openings for air.
This is when things to go very odd turn. I guess Mr. lizard of all lizards who is really docile being out in the wild but not so docile once you put him in a box. He was really mad and I can only imagine he was twisting and turning like an alligator might once catching some live prey.
We ended up taping the box to the driveway and also securing it with tape to the edge of the garage door at the bottom, so that it wouldn’t go away while we waited for some type of rescue group to come and collect it. I called wildlife rescue and they provided me with three members of some very nice rescue companies. It ended up being friends of Falcons or something like that they came to get him, and they now have updated that he is their friendly office bearded dragon that is allowed to run freely in their office. Note to self never go to their office.
Just three weeks prior, a baby gopher tortoise the size of a regular chicken egg was found in my backyard and brought to be in by my dog completely unharmed. Because it was the weekend and I knew there weren’t any rescue agencies working, and the gopher tortoise is a very protected species in Florida, I put it in a box with some water and some grass, a cut cherry tomato and some lettuce. In case it got cold I put some tissue paper in there as well. Eventually, it stuck it’s head out in the mornings when I would come outside to check on him. I would sing him the good morning song, just as I sing to my puppy and to my children. As Monday came around, and I was getting ready to check on him and call one of the agencies I realized even before I got outside that he hadn’t moved from where he was the night before. Sadly, the little guy had passed away. I let the rescue agency come get him anyway just so that they could determine what type he was and maybe determine where he came from exactly. They said that it looked like he had some scratch marks on his back/shell and that it was possible that a bird of prey had grabbed him and dropped him while flying over my yard.
I guess the meaning of all of this particularly blog post, that I didn’t know what it would actually turn out to be, is that as our population increases, as our own housing needs increased there are other creatures that are getting forgotten. Those creatures end up seeking refuge elsewhere. They are not coming into our yards to hurt us or because they think we are bad. They’re coming into our yards because we are encroaching on their space and in their territory that they had first. We are literally running them out of their own homes and then we are mad about it. So before you kill something because it’s in your space, consider the fact that it could be endangered and protected and you could face significant penalties, fine or even jail time if you do kill it. Sometimes it really is looking out for the little guy and sometimes little guy isn’t human.
Take some time to appreciate the nature around you and what is has given you.