Behavior
When frightened by a predator, Green Iguanas will attempt to flee, and if near a body of water, they dive into it and swim away. If cornered by a threat, the Green Iguana will extend and display the dewlap under its neck, stiffen and puff up its body, hiss, and bob its head at the aggressor. If threat persists the Iguana can lash with its tail, bite and use its claws in defense. The wounded are more inclined to fight than uninjured prey.
Green Iguanas use "head bobs" and dewlaps in a variety of ways in social interactions, such as greeting another iguana or to court a possible mate. The frequency and number of head bobs have particular meanings to other iguanas.
Green Iguanas are hunted by predatory birds and their fear of these is exploited as a ploy to catch them in the wild. The sound of a hawk's whistle or scream makes the iguana freeze and it becomes easier to capture.
Read more about this topic: Green Iguana
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“Gaining a better understanding of how children’s minds work at different ages will allow you to make more sense of their behaviors. With this understanding come decreased stress and increased pleasure from being a parent. It lessens the frustrations that come from expecting things that a child simply cannot do or from incorrectly interpreting a child’s behavior in adult terms.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“In abnormal times like our own, when institutions are changing rapidly in several directions at once and the traditional framework of society has broken down, it becomes more and more difficult to measure any type of behavior against any other.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.”
—Freda Adler (b. 1934)