Blog 3 Epic Battle!

Yesterday, on the way home from a walk, I witnessed a slow motion but dramatic battle between two ctenosaurs that I can only assume was over territory.

It takes a certain amount of patience to witness an iguana fight—you might want to grab a chair if you come across two males squaring off. I didn’t have a chair but I did have a camera and the luxury of time when I encountered these two big boys on the way home from our property yesterday.

There are two species of iguanas in Costa Rica: the large Green Iguana which can grow to an astounding 6.5 feet long and the slightly smaller (to 4 feet) but still impressive and impressively named Ctenosaur.  Both types like to climb trees which they will jump out of if they feel threatened which is quite a surprise if you walk unsuspectingly by and startle one!
Fortunately, these two were on the ground, and were oblivious to—or didn’t care about my arrival.
They were locked together, each with a mouthful of the other’s side. Every minute or two they would thrash in a circle, attempting to obtain some sort of advantage, and then stop, sides heaving, still chomped together.

This went on and on (good thing I had had lunch) until finally the turquoise one made a bold move and managed to flip the brown one over although in wrestling terms I don’t know if it could be considered a pin since the turquoise one was upside down as well. In any case, the brown one endured this clearly more painful position only for a few minutes before shaking himself loose and running as fast as he could, away. The victor posed for many minutes clearly enjoying his supremacy over these lands, until I moved to get a new camera angle and he too, ran away.