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W von Papineäu
at Tue Sep 18 07:28:13 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by W von Papineäu ]
ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 18 September 07 Large lizard on the loose in Edgewood (Rich Mckay)
Edgewood police are on the hunt for a cold-blooded, 4 1/2-foot-long Godzilla-wannabe with bad breath, sharp talons and an appetite for small mammals.
It was last seen swimming in a backyard pool off South Orange Avenue near Mandalay Road. Police have had several reported sightings of it running through yards.
The reptilian invader to the small bedroom community south of Orlando is thought to be an African Nile monitor lizard, likely an escaped pet, said police Chief John Tegg, who was handing out warning fliers Monday.
"I haven't seen the rascal myself, but we want to get it," Tegg said. "I hear their bites are real nasty."
The critter, which can grow up to 7 feet, has been known to rear up on its hind legs, hiss like a leaking tire and run faster than most football quarterbacks. It can climb trees and swim long distances.
Monitor-lizard owners also have discovered that the pet can dig through drywall and slice through wire cages and doesn't like to cuddle.
It will eat almost anything. Fluffy and Fido are on the menu, but its favorite foods are bird and crocodile eggs, said Scott Hardin, exotic-species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
If its bite or nasty claws don't get you, it can deliver a surprise blow from its powerful tail, Hardin said.
"We don't recommend that anyone approach or corner it," he said.
The lizard's bite isn't poisonous, but its bacteria-laced saliva can be toxic, he said.
Tegg and trapper Corey Hicks, operations manager of Critter Control in Orlando, said they think the lizard on the lam was once a pet. Police have received complaints about a former Edgewood-area resident who released several monitors he tried to breed at home.
Hicks said his company caught a monitor lizard of a similar size in the area a few months ago.
He is sympathetic to the creatures, saying their surly behavior is only natural. Because the creatures survive well in captivity, humans took the species from its native Nile River basin, where crocodiles hunt them.
When Hicks catches such a lizard, typically in traps baited with raw squid, he tries to find it a home at a zoo or Gatorland.
"I'll go through the phone book until I find someone who'll take it," he said.
Hardin said monitor lizards have been reported in Orange County since 2003, but there are no confirmed reports of a breeding population, such as one in Cape Coral in southwest Florida that is defying an eradication effort.
Female monitor lizards can lay more than 80 eggs at a time.
Because of the lizards' omnivorous appetite, they can wreak havoc on native Florida species, including the burrowing owl and gopher tortoise.
Hardin said that reports of a would-be breeder freeing numerous monitor lizards have him concerned.
"If there were breeding pairs released, it stands a better chance of survival in the Lake Conway area," he said. "They like to live near an aquatic area."
Large lizard on the loose in Edgewood
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 FL Press: Large lizard on the loose - W von Papineäu, Tue Sep 18 07:28:13 2007
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