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Spent 10 days on Guana Island, BVI catching C pinguis. The pic is the biggest one I caught, about 21" svl and just over 15lbs. His name is "Chuipah" which is porkchop in chinese. I spent 4 days trying to catch him. He is fed by the staff and habituated to people but very wary. I had a noose around his head 2x and he shook it off. I had to bait a net that lay on the ground and have one of the gardeners that feed him pull up the net and I dove on him because he wouldnt come close to a stranger. He has many scars, all the males did. I have never in all the cyclura I have caught had to tape a mouth closed. This guys neck, due to the crest, was so thick I couldnt get my hands around his neck to safely control the head. This animal has a great history. He was sent to Necker Is. Branson's island, as one of 4 pinguis to colonize the island. He was a staff favorite and the owners wife demanded Chuipah come back. So one of the staff retrieved and replaced the ig and brought Chuipah home that was 2003 and he was thought to be a female. When we caught "her" and we found out it was PIT tagged we got the history on the lizard and it was obviously a male and his whereabouts unkown till caught. In 2wks our team caught 86 iguanas. The population is healthy and thriving. Incredible animals
jf

I’m jealous!! drool drool.

Wow!! This must be such a great/fun trip. That animal is stunning. It's great to hear how well the population is doing.

JF, that sounds like an amazing trip. I think it is the same trip my friend Jill was on! Was it an amazing resort?

Yeah I met Jill! Our stays overlapped for a few days. The place is
is impressive. I will try to post more pics this weekend.
jf

That's awesome. Jill is amazing. I'll see her tomorrow and mention that you were there. She is picking us up at the hospital after my husband's surgery and coming over to check on Tazumal and visit Kismet and Sebastian.

Nice picture ! and awesome history to go along with it. Looks like your hands too a beating catching all of those iguanas, but I sure it was well worth it

OK...that's it...next trip, I am going with you!

Heres another pic. Its not great but it shows the incredible amount of blue on the males
I came across this male, which I think was bigger than Chuipah, on a trail that is away from most people on the island. The ones without human contact are very flighty and dont give you much chance to even look at them. As soon as eye contact is made they are gone. I was lucky to get this pic, but check out that blue!
jf

Oh wow! He is beautiful!!

more pics. 1st is another male and the 2nd heaviest caught at 15.8lbs. Noosed in a tree
2nd is a large female that hung out for food where we caught Chuipah. note the
whites in the eyes and not red. In case you dont know C pinguis white sclera is normal and only turn red when stressed or mad.
3rd is this years(month's) hatchling, noosed with dental floss
jf

Looks like the male wanted to whoop up on you! The hatchlings colors are unique. I have heard there skin is very smooth, not the typical iguana feel to it.

Oh wow. Is what Yakov heard true? Is the skin that smooth, JF? I absolutely love the way the hatchlings look! The colors are striking.

Awesome pictures ! Thanks for sharing...dental floss, I always used monofilament, less visible, but probably does not stay closed as securely.

Nice work Joel!! On Anegada I don't think we have seen 86 wild ones! Catching them there is a nightmare. How's the new homestead?