My Garden or Mi Casa Es Su Casa

The last painting I did for my show Obras Favoritas/ Favorite Works was of my garden and my garden is full of iguanas. They seem to reside primarily on or around my clay tile roof, the highest roof I have. Factoid,; iguanas are cold blooded reptiles who regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun. Then they crash down on my main metal roof. I used to run up thinking a meteor had hit or lightening had struck or a robber had arrived. Dashing up and arriving shocked on the roof top patio, ready for battle, I would meet an equally shocked iguana. I tried to hose them down but it didn´t work, it just seemed to confuse everything. Slowly my heart softened when I understood that the iguanas were not invading but were simply here to eat.

Iguanas walk along the edges of things, the edges of balconies, the edges of iron railings, the edges of roofs, thin branches of trees dip and sway with their weight as they leap about, high risk takers. We carry the high risk gene in my family so it made sense to be more welcoming and accept them into my household. I put them to work as models. They freeze and pose perfectly still when I approach with my brush and canvas , a defensive mechanism, I have read. This bright orange creature pretends to be not really a living thing, just part of a tree. They seem to prefer orange and red flowers and denude my hibiscus both of flowers and leaves. They are entertaining and I laughed to see my orange trumpet vine flowers cascading from he mouth of an iguana. Another fact; iguanas are herbivores, eating fruit, vegetables, flower buds flowers and leaves but they also eat small animals and so are omnivorous. They themselves are eaten by carnivores, humans included. Green iguanas are bred and raised for food in South America and Central America, according to The San Diego Zoo.

Iguanas seem to stop and listen at any sound and when I talk to them and laugh, they make no sound in return, they are mute. An odd fact about the iguanas of Galapagos; although they are mute, they recognize the call of the mockingbird on the island as a warning of approaching danger from hawks. Iguanas have two eyes and a third eye at the top of the head, called the Parietal eye. With this third eye they can sense changes in light and dark and determine seasons as well as see approaching predators such as hawks. They can see above, below, behind and in front and can see higher wave lengths beyond what humans see.

Here in Mexico I am often asked," ¿ Vives sola ? Do you live alone ? " No. I don't know how many iguanas I have living with me. A whole bunch of iguana eggs were found in a tube of PVC up there on the roof while I was house building. They lay their eggs and leave them, usually under ground where the temperature remains warm and there the eggs incubate alone , anywhere from 10 to 30. Alfredo, the gardener principal of Cuauhtemoc, told me he took all the iguanas from his employer's garden down to the river. Not fair, now they have moved in with me. They are said to be solitary creatures but mine seem quite friendly and I especially like the way they hold their heads up high and accompany me wherever I go. During the food prep for opening night of my show, I threw the remains of the eggplant over the side of the railings and soon after, an iguana came right into the center of the studio, quite bold but a babaganouch lover, I presume.

The longest living iguana recorded was a blue iguana of the Cayman Islands named Godzilla who lived to be 69 in Brownsville, Texas. They are much loved as pets and most of the information available about them on the internet is for pet lovers. I have seen people petting them as if their scales were fur and cozy to the touch but my reptilian brain remains in loving defensive mode and I maintain my cool artists observant eyes as I welcome them into my house and they accept me into the neighborhood.