Mexico, Spring 1970

As you read many of my adventures, a picture of my childhood begins to take shape.  I was an energetic little boy with more energy than 10 men and feared nothing, with the exception of public humiliation or getting in trouble with my parents.  Unfortunately the things I feared most seemed to be the most common themes of my childhood.  This story is no different.  This one does not involve getting in trouble; so, I will leave it to the reader to know what is coming next.

Most of my childhood vacations took place in Mexico, first in Guaymas and later in San Felipe, Baja, Mexico.  Most of these vacations included my extended family as well as close friends.  Traditionally, we would all drive down to Guaymas and stay in a local RV park on the ocean.  During the day some of us would go out fishing and others would take the time to go explore the surrounding area.  These explorations included going to other nearby beaches and towns.  In 1970 while we were on vacation in Guaymas, they were filming the movie Catch-22 at a nearby beach called San Carlos.  That year we enjoyed seeing all of the vintage World War II aircraft like the B-29’s and B-26’s flying around.  The town was filled with a bunch of vintage trucks and jeeps that were also being used in the film.

That was also the vacation that everybody decided to go to a bay south of town for a big Crab and Clam bake.  This particular bay was known for having crabs and all you had to do was drop a line over the boat with shark meat tied onto the end and the crabs would come up by the dozen.   By nightfall we had enough crabs to go along with all the clams that were dug up on the adjacent beach.  Of course by that time the kids were in full swing playing games, bugging their parents and running around like wild cats.  The parents were hanging by the fire enjoying each other’s company when I approached my mother to show her what I had just caught.  I was 10 at that time and catching bugs and wild reptiles was a favorite activity of mine.  I always thought of my mother and showed her every catch whether she wanted to see them or not.

On this particular evening I had caught a three to four inch lizard and was holding it tightly in my cupped hands.  All you could see was its head sticking out.  All of a sudden like a flash this lizard leaped out of my hands and getting away was not what this guy had in mind.  Upon his departure from my hands he latched onto my chin with his teeth and proceeded not to let go.  In no time I was crying.  My mother was in a panic as she was convinced this was a poisonous lizard; and the other parents who had been drinking for some time now, gathered around offering their solutions to the problem.  Heat was tried as was cold beer and ice cubes to no avail.  If I remember correctly, even a dash of tequila was used but again his grip never released.  If nothing else, this lizard was probably enjoying the free drinks and had no plans to go anywhere.

As luck would have it, one of the guests in the crowd that evening was a local who had befriended our family over the years.  He took one look at the lizard hanging there from my chin and muttered something.  He reached over and grabbed this critter somewhere in the back of the head and it immediately released its hold, dropped to the ground and scurried off.  Our friend also reassured my mother that it was not dangerous in any way and that I would be just fine.

I do not remember much of the rest of that evening but I am sure to this day that catching lizards is best left to the experts, wherever they are.