Iguana that was stuck in in Coral Springs fence. {photos by Carolyn Meyer}
By: Jen Russon
Iguanas are mostly regarded as pesky creatures in Coral Springs, scampering across lawns, dirtying otherwise sparkling pools, and burrowing under residents’ fences.
A few Saturdays ago, an iguana didn’t so much burrow under a fence as getting stuck in one.
“I am scared and do not really want to touch him. [I] was hoping there was someone out there that likes iguanas and could try to save him,” Carolyn Stewart wrote on Next Door.
Stewart lives in The Crossings and said a large, green iguana had been on the run in her backyard until half his body became lodged in a chain-link fence around 3:30 p.m.
Over 200 people wrote back in the comment thread from June 19, but only one person seemed fond enough of iguanas to help Stewart get him out.
Jasangely Pacheco-Sanisidro, who lives in Coral Bay, said she would try to stop by Stewart’s house after work.
In the meantime, the young woman suggested Stewart try snipping the metal on her chain link fence.
The cutters Stewart used couldn’t sever the fence, and attempts by her grandson to pry him loose only seemed to anger the imprisoned reptile.
“This iguana is totally stuck and looks like he will be stuck overnight. Not sure how long he can live like this. [I] Called wildlife, but they don’t call back, probably not available until Monday,” she wrote in an update.
By nightfall, Pacheco-Sanisidro arrived at the scene and managed to gently pry him loose.
Though they said the iguana appeared exhausted from more than five hours of struggle, he sprang back to life once freed, returning to the canal that borders Stewart’s backyard.
“He swam away. He was completely unharmed,” said Stewart, who managed to pose for once last photo op with the reptile before she let him go.
Pacheco-Sanisidro could not be reached for comment.
Stewart said the Humane Unit advised calling the non-emergency number at the Coral Springs Police Department if this sort of thing ever happens again.
Like the one caught in Stewart’s fence, Green iguanas are not protected in Florida, except by anti-cruelty law.
They can be humanely killed on private property with the owner’s permission. No permit or hunting license is required.
“I didn’t want him to get hurt,” said Stewart. “Iguanas are annoying, sure, but they don’t deserve that.”
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