Grand Cayman Island Green Iguana

[FrankMi]

Although the endangered Blue Iguana and the Rock Iguana are native to the Cayman Islands, the Green Iguanas are not and got a foothold on the island when they escaped captivity as pets.

They have no predators, are very invasive, and pose a serious threat to the island’s wildlife because of their size, feeding habits, and high reproduction rates.

This was a relatively small one and surprisingly vibrant for what I was expecting having seen the duller coloring on the Iguanas at St. Thomas. I didn't see any of the Blue or Rock Iguana while I was there.

[Stagecoach]

Hi Frank,

That's a great specimen and well shot.

We have a similar problem here in Fiji in that American Green Iguanas that were bought here as pets are now invading certain islands and although having been classed as pests there's problems eradicating them.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, texture and patterns really stands out.

[deetheturk]

Stunning image Frank,well captured!

Cheers David

[Downrigger]

Gosh - that is an impossibly compelling suite of greens! Just getting those greens anywhere in an image of mine someday could be a goal in itself. Makes for a wonderful image.
On another note, I suppose you were there to visit with various of your bankers, I hope it went well.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice, Frank! As much as some could argue that the leaves provide important information, I could just as easily argue that the image would be more strikingly simple if you cloned to remove them.

[Sergio M.]

I agree. This has stunning clarity and color.

Sergio

[jprzybyla]

As others have written, stunning image. I agree with Mike regarding the leaves. If the image were mine I would remove them to concentrate attention onto the iguana. Very similar to Green Iguanas I saw in the Florida Keys.

[FrankMi]

I appreciate you taking the time to view and comment Grahame, John, David, Mark, Mike, Sergio and Joe!

Mark, you have an inflated sense of grandeur and I wish I could live up to your expectations!

Specially for Mike and Joe, I got out the weed-eater.

[NorthernFocus]

Wow that guy really is vibrant and you captured it well. The leaves cloned out is a definite improvement. Nicely done.

[FrankMi]

Thank you Dan. If I cloned out the leaves with that kind of a background it would have been really obvious but fortunately I had another image that included the same wall so I was able to just mask and merge over the offending parts.

I was amazed at the intensity of the coloring of the Grand Cayman Iguana. I was expecting them to be more subdued like the ones at St. Thomas, below.