An Edmonton woman is on a desperate hunt to find her beloved pet iguana. Gaylord, a four-foot-long tropical reptile, escaped from Mary-Ann Holm’s west end home nearly two weeks ago and hasn’t been seen since.
“It’s been 12 days,” said a worried Holm. “I certainly would have thought someone would have seen an almost five-foot iguana by now.”
On Saturday, Aug. 13, Holm and her seven other animals were in the backyard getting some fresh air when the doorbell rang. Holm went inside the house for 10 minutes and when she came back outside Gaylord was nowhere to be found.
“My assumption is… he went over the gate and out the front because he really can’t get under the fence,” she said.
Holm and a group of her friends immediately began searching the Webber Greens neighbourhood. At first she was optimistic they’d find him because Gaylord doesn’t move that quickly. But after about 30 minutes of searching, she began to worry. Now, 12 days later, she’s desperate to find him.
“It’s getting cold at night and they’re cold-blooded animals so they need the heat of the day to keep them warm. They won’t eat if they’re cold so he’s likely getting skinnier and getting hungrier,” she explained. “I feel guilty.”
Holm has had Gaylord for about five years. She said the iguana was a bit aggressive when they first got him, but he’s become quite a nice pet over the years.
“We were dodging him and hiding from him sometimes because he was pretty vicious but he was becoming a nice guy and we really miss him. We’d really like to have him back, grumpy and all.”
Holm isn’t exactly certain why Gaylord would have ran away, although she admits the reptile seemed a bit jealous when she got her new dog.
“He was getting aggressive. He was aggressive when we first got him but he was really becoming a nice boy and he started to act like his old self again – arching his back, whipping his tail.”
Holm has been searching the neighbourhood for Gaylord every day since he escaped. She hopes her neighbours will help her out by searching their yards and under decks or porches, in hopes of finding the iguana.
“He’ll blend in … He’s likely to be hiding,’ she said. “He’ll be along a fence, he’ll be in shrubbery, possibly up in a tree. But likely well hidden from view.”
Holm has offered a $500 reward to anyone who leads her to finding Gaylord.
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