There’s a lot of wildlife here.  Costa Rica has over 400 species of reptiles and amphibians.  In our backyard there’s a big iguana who spends his days sunning himself on his favorite corner of the shed roof.  If you get too close he becomes agitated and does push-ups. 

I asked the biologists his name and they said he didn’t have one!  That had to change.  We settled on Cteni Tom, pronounced “Teeny Tom.”  (The C is silent.)  That’s because he is a Spinytail Iguana, Ctenosaura similis.  They are plant eaters, active by day. 

Tom is a handsome adult with a big dorsal crest – the spikes along his back.  He is about a foot and a half long.  A few other iguanas share his space, but not for long.  The special corner is his.