Would you like a side of “reptile” with that steak?

American Crocodile
 

I was getting ready to cook a steak on our outdoor grille a few days ago. I opened the lid and cleaned off the residue on the grate.  Next, I took out the grate and cleaned the burner covers. Then I replaced the grate, sprayed some PAM, and ignited the gas grille. Just before I put the steak on the grille, a five-inch lizard* jumped out of the grille and scurried away. Yuck! I do NOT want to cook a side order of “reptile” with my steak.

When you live in Florida, you just have to learn to co-exist with all kinds of reptiles. I am truly not a squeamish person. It doesn’t bother me to sweep up the little lizard skeletons from the floors when we open our Florida condo each year. If an occasional lizard slips into the house, I know I won’t see it again until it is desiccated.

Even when a black snake slithered over my foot in the shallow water, I still went kayaking in Rainberry Lake. Later on, when an alligator glided off the bank and into the lake as we paddled by, I did not turn back.   I rather enjoy seeing all of the various iguanas in the trees and on the shore. The young ones are bright chartreuse, the medium-sized ones are a brown green, and the grandfather iguanas are a vivid orange, blending with the dead palm leaves. In an oh-I-wish-I-had–my-camera moment, my friend Mary Anne and I saw an iguana on the dashboard of a docked motor boat. It looked just as if he were driving that boat! I wonder if the boat owners on Rainberry Lake check their boats for errant iguanas before they cast off.  I know I would!

In the Sun Sentinel, I read about a man who was on a paddle board on the Intracoastal Waterway in nearby Boca Raton. A crocodile (yes, crocodile!) came up towards him with mouth open and teeth bared. The man had the presence of mind to slam his paddle on the water as hard as he could near the croc’s head. The large reptile paused and then sank back into the water. So, another reptile has migrated into the Florida waters. Great. I just hope that crocodiles eat Burmese Pythons or vice versa.

*Carnet Curly-tailed Lizard