THE ADVOCATE (Stamford Connecticut) 22 July 06 Search on for wayward lizard's owner (Andrew Shaw)
Officials are searching for the owner of an unlikely four-legged visitor that was found patrolling the lawn of an Old Greenwich residence.
A 3 1/2-foot iguana was found on the lawn of North Street resident Barbara Peale, who called police to have the animal removed, according to a police report. The iguana's origins and how it arrived in Peale's lawn, near Sound Beach Avenue, are unknown.
In order to find an owner, a lost-and-found public notice was listed for three days in the Greenwich Time classified section, according to Allyson Halm, the town's senior animal control officer. Halm said the state mandates officers hold the animal for seven days from the initial advertising date to give the owner an opportunity to claim it.
Rick and Patricia Muldoon, both licensed by the state Department of Environmental Protection as nuisance wildlife control operators, were called in to collect the iguana since it was after normal operating hours for the town's animal control office.
The Muldoons, who have made a career out of catching wild animals, are housing the lizard at their Greenwich residence until the current owner shows up or a new owner becomes available. They have already lined up a person to adopt the iguana if an owner is not located.
Halm said she was grateful the Muldoons are taking care of the iguana, since she did not think there was a proper place for it at the animal shelter on Bruce Park Drive.
"I didn't want to have to put the iguana next to a German shepherd -- it would be too stressful," Halm said.
The Muldoons, who work as private contractors, are on call all day every day to pick up wild animals, although the animal must be considered a nuisance.
"If someone has a raccoon running around their yard, we usually just tell them how they might be able to deal with it," Patricia said. "Now if it gets into the garage and starts destroying property, then we can do something."
The couple have caught all kinds of wildlife around Greenwich, including the coyotes that killed three dogs around Riverside in 2003, Rick said.
The Muldoons said they have about all the business they can handle now, especially since Patricia works a full-time job in addition to her animal recovery duties. Rick said his wife is instrumental in handling the wildest of the wildlife.
"(Patricia) is normally the one to handle the more dangerous animals," Rick said. Patricia was the one to make the first contact during the collection of an 18-foot python with the ability to fatally crush a person
The iguana poses no major threat, although it does have sharp talons and a long tail that it uses as a weapon, Rick said.
There's just one place Rick won't go to recover these woodland creatures, a place he considers to be wilder than the animals he recovers.
"I won't drive on Interstate 95 Friday at 5 p.m.," he said. "It's suicide."
Search on for wayward lizard's owner