>How many reported injuries occurred from Nile monitor
>attacks in Florida--no, the U.S.--, in history?
>Then research how many dog bites/attacks have been
>reported. When in doubt, check the statistics. Numbers
>don't lie--people do.

There have been no recorded attacks on people by *any* species of monitor lizard, outside the bizarre and sensation attack by a Komodo dragon on Sharon Stone's stupid husband. Now, Komodos do eat people when given the chance, but a nile monitor is *not* a Komodo dragon.

As for dog bites: In 2001, the CDC determined that 368,245 people were treated in emergency rooms for bog bites. There are currently 65 million dogs in the United States, or one for every five people. According the the CDC, 2% of Americans have been bitten by a dog (I have!)

I've also been bitten by a green iguana. When I found Rex, his tail was badly cut, and he objected to having Neosporin applied; I don't hold it against him (and he's quite nicely healed.) An injured rat snake sank his fangs into the meat of my hand while I doctored the injuries he received from a feral cat. He now lives in our backyard (wild).

In my opinion, feral cats are the greatest "pet" threat to wildlife, killing off many songbirds.

I can find no reliable count for the number of domestic lizards, though recent pet industry surveys guesstimate that 4% of U.S. households have at least one reptile. No one I know of has any statistic on the number of reptile-caused injuries, but it can't be very high (or someone *would* be keeping track of it!)

>>I have inferred from your posts that you have made up
>>your mind on this issue, as it is far more sexy to write
>>about the dangers of Nile monitors, than to effectively
>>diffuse a public hysteria.

Then you infer incorrectly. My current position (which may change as I do more research) suggests that niles are no great threat to people, but they can (and may already have) cause great harm to endangered species. Of course, if humans hadn;t messed up the ecosystem so badly, many endangered species would have larger ranges, and the niles would pose much less of a threat. :Like most stories, this one is not black or white, and there are no simple answers.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

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