Think a dog or cat
will fulfill your need to nurture? How predictable. But what
do you say to a pet iguana?
One of the leading authorities on owning and caring for these
oft-misunderstood reptiles lives right here in Portland. James
W. Hatfield III, a.k.a. "Iguana Jim," loves those lizards
so much he wrote a 655-page book, Green Iguana--The Ultimate
Owner's Manual, that tries to discourage people from owning
them.
Willamette Week: What? No iguanas in the house?
James Hatfield: I had one for five years. He was a gorgeous
creature. Everything about him was spotless...perfect. But
he died of cancer. Nowadays, I travel a lot to Latin America
for research, and I'm gone a lot doing book signings. Iguanas
need a controlled environment, and because of all the tall
trees we lose power around here all the time. So this goes
back to my basic premise: If you have an animal, you have
to be totally responsible for it. I'd love to have another
iguana, but I have to live by my own words.
When did the iguana first captivate you?
I was in Mexico, and there was this kid on the street who
had this lizard in his hands. I didn't know what it was,
but I was drawn to it. It was so gorgeous, but what I noticed
that was different than any lizard I'd ever seen was that
it had an awareness in its eyes. Most lizards or snakes,
you look in their eyes, and no one's home. But with this
iguana, I thought, 'Wow, somebody's home.' So I asked to
hold it--it was about 3 feet long--and it just settled into
my arms like a big cat with a green coat on, and I thought,
'Man, this is really cool.'
Is the iguana misunderstood?
Oh yes, a lot of people will buy an iguana without any
knowledge about what to do with it. In my book, I give them
a lot of details and hopefully scare them off.
What are the iguana's most endearing qualities?
When you tell the average person you have a lizard for
a pet, they think you're whacked. But iguanas are large
animals with large brains. At first you just have this wild
creature from Latin America in your home, but as it gets
more tame, it becomes more like a pet--actually, a lot like
a cat. It will come and sit on your lap, it appreciates
being touched and petted. My lizard would come in my office
and sit on the chair, just because he wanted to be with
me.
Can a person ever have too many iguanas?
I say in the book that you only should have one iguana
because they're territorial. Even in the wild, they're separated,
so in a small space like a habitat, you only want to have
one iguana. People think that they're like a cat or a dog,
that they want a buddy. They don't want a buddy. It's like
Jeffrey Dahmer doesn't want a buddy. So, definitely: one
animal per household.
Before you became 'Iguana Jim,' did you have any other
incarnations?
I was a union carpenter, a triathlete, a rock climber.
I was a champion surfer, I ran a lot of marathons, I earned
a purple belt in karate. I'm kind of excessive at whatever
I do.
If this country were run by iguanas, what would it be
like?
There would be more parks. And more forests.
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Willamette Week | originally
published October 20,
1999
|
