We have taken a Charlotte Mason approach to our homeschool as far as nature walks, nature journals, and learning through experiences rather than books. Our Animal Encounters posts will share these fun zoology lessons and experiences.
I is for Iguana. Or, ‘good night what the heck is that in the yard?!’ I kid you not, this guy was hanging out in my backyard all summer!
I have lived in north Florida for almost 30 years and have only seen one ‘wild’ iguana in my life. ONE. We were in Key Largo and it ran across the street into the woods. It was a drive by iguana!
Thankfully my next iguana encounter would be far more interesting and far regular! This guy slowly crawled up into our yard and sunbathed every single afternoon. Every! Single! Afternoon!
I was expecting to see a gator in the lake near the house since we were living on a golf course. I have seen many gators in lakes on golf courses in my time. Yet the first time I saw the iguana lumber across the grass I freaked. I thought it was a baby alligator looking to eat our small dog!
Then the thing climbed a tree. Gators don’t climb trees y’all!!
Immediately I googled ‘reptiles in trees Naples FL’ and discovered iguanas are the ‘south Florida rat’. How endearing?! They’re everywhere. We even started seeing them at the playground.
So naturally we turned our afternoons into nature journaling and learning lessons! Feel free to print our Iguana Worksheet as you learn more about these animals.
My oldest son tried to get close enough to take this photo for me. FYI, They are CRAZY fast when they need to run. Mr. Iguana always ran for the water and he is quick there too. We realized he liked eating the stuff in one tree. His tale was almost twice as long as his body and his green skin was a beautiful shade of green!
What a fun experience living four months beside this interesting cold blooded reptilian neighbor.
Looking for more Animal Science papers? We made a ton. Print these Animal Worksheets !!
Or print one of my favorites, Nature Walk notebooking page.