PET IGUANA ESCAPES, IS AT LARGE IN CHAFFEE

CHAFFEE -- Kathy Baker didn't call the Missing Persons Bureau when Earl left home, but she did notify the Chaffee Police Department and hang posters around town.

Earl is a five-foot-long, green iguana that has been missing since noon Friday. He was last seen at a convenience store around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.

"I feel like one of my kids is missing," said Baker who has owned the reptile for about two years. "He has no homing instinct. Once he left the yard, he was lost."

Earl is harmless, but will probably be hungry and lethargic because of the cool weather when he's found. He normally eats breakfast at 8 a.m. every day and has likely feasted on flowers and grass during his adventure, Baker said, adding that to digest the food Earl needs 100 degree heat and lots of ultraviolet rays --both of which await him at home.

Iguanas are vegetarians and eat fruit, flowers and leaves. Some live to be 30 years old and grow to about 6 feet long. But most iguanas live in the desert or tropical rain forests. Earl's favorite foods are cantaloupe and dandelions, but he also enjoys cheese.

Earl is a tame housepet who rarely leaves his own yard in the S & S Estates Mobile Home Park. But Friday afternoon, he crawled out a window to get some fresh air and has not returned.

"He just wanted to go out and play," Baker said. Baker works a midnight shift at Lee-Rowan and was sleeping Friday afternoon when the iguana left.

Earl, in a playful mood, scratched at the bed while Baker slept. She told him to "go away" while she napped. "So he went outside," she said, adding that later the family found the hole in a window screen where Earl escaped.

Iguanas typically stay active during the day and sleep at night, but need warm weather to survive. Earl likes to go outside, but he usually plays in a flower bed under supervision from Baker or her children, Amy and J.D. Hall.

"He has his own room and runs loose in the house," Baker said. "He dances and jogs with us and has his own leash."

Sometimes Earl even watches television -- cartoons are his favorite, she said.

"He's gone to school," Amy said, adding that he's a favorite with her friends. "They'll knock on the door and say they want to see Earl," she said.

With so many friends and frequent visitors, Earl isn't afraid of people, Baker said. "If somebody's in his house, he's going to come and check them out. He won't hurt anybody and I don't want anybody to hurt him."

Anyone who sees Earl should call the Chaffee Police Department at 887-6043 or Baker at 887-4112. "We'll come get him; he wants to come home."