COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE (Missouri) 20 June 06 Iggy makes a night of it - Reptile rescue proves a test of nerves. (Janese Heavin)
It’s been a rough week for Iggy.
First, the iguana’s owner had a health problem that required him to turn the animal over to a pet store. Then Iggy rubbed too much against a metal cage and got rub burns on the face. And on Sunday, Iggy climbed a tree and got stuck.
It took a team of animal control and fire officials to get the creature down yesterday afternoon.
Rob Bassett, who is taking care of Iggy, isn’t sure how old the creature is, nor does he know its gender. It would take some probing to find out whether Iggy is a male, and "he’s been probed enough today," Bassett said after the rescue.
Iggy has been in Bassett’s care for about a week since the animal was dropped off at RK’s Pet Emporium, 5400 E. St. Charles Road. Bassett, who does not work for the store, is somewhat of a reptile guru and had agreed to nurse Iggy back to health from the lizard’s facial injuries.
When Bassett removed the base of Iggy’s wire cage Sunday, the oversized lizard found a gap and climbed out.
A couple of hours later, at about 3 p.m. Sunday, Bassett found Iggy on a tree limb. At first, he tried to coax the lizard down by setting up a heat lamp overnight. Iguanas can’t control their body temperatures, so Bassett figured Iggy would get cold and move into the light.
It didn’t work. By 1 p.m. yesterday, Bassett called for backup.
Getting Iggy down proved a bit challenging. Calling it by name didn’t help, said Lt. Kurt Doolady of the Boone County Fire Protection District. Doolady was one of four emergency officials gathered around the tree in the backyard of Bassett’s Suncrest Court home east of Columbia to rescue the exotic pet.
Doolady tried to hook the branch with a rope to encourage the animal to crawl closer to the trunk. Iggy didn’t budge.
Enter Luke Shaw, a Columbia/Boone County Animal Control officer who isn’t afraid of heights. Shaw climbed a 10-foot ladder then about 2 feet of tree limbs to poke Iggy with a 10-foot pike.
"I used to work for a masonry company, so I’ve been higher in the air than that," he said.
Back on the ground, Bassett and animal control Officer Molly Aust created a makeshift safety net using a blanket.
After hanging on for what seemed like its life, Iggy finally let go of the branch and tumbled through the limbs into the blanket. It immediately ran toward the chain-link fence but was captured and returned to its cage.
Bassett isn’t sure what will become of Iggy once it’s healthy again. It’s possible he could provide the pet a permanent home. But for now, Bassett’s just making sure the sneaky iguana doesn’t venture beyond its cage.
Iggy makes a night of it