Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just saw a news report on CNN of a four foot, EIGHTY pound monitor on the loose in florida. the police claimed to have shot it twice, but it survived and is still on the loose. the pic on CNN looked like an argus maybe?? an eighty pound four foot long monitor shouldnt be that hard to capture.
gotta love the media.
joe

Please, we all know that all the feral mangey muts and cats roaming aroud the nation are WAY more dangerous than any lizard. Not to mention the insane people who are potential serial killers. Why aren't the police given authority to shoot them on sight? I think somebody would actually have to try and start a fight with that lizard to get hurt, in fact, I'm almost sure of it. The people of the US, messed up.

Haha, 80 pounds and 4 feet long. Looks like somebody's trying to make something sound way more dangerous than it really is.

Hey, do you know how to contact CNN? Or the local police of that area? I'd like to give them a piece of my mind...

Cheers,
Ryan

I hope the rest of the news, you know, the stuff we really don't know about is far more accurate then this. To be four foot long and 80 pounds, it needs to be nearly square, you know, a 4 by 4. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Of course If I saw a four by four coming at me, or going away, I may have to shoot it. Also, its bullet proof too.

And no worries mate, its not just the states, it may be far worse in other countries. A few years ago I did some tort work with the Seri's in northern mex. They killed geckos on sight. They called them ghost lizards(translucent) it is said, that ghost lizards climb up pragnat womens legs and cause them to miscarry. Hey, at least their reasons to simply kill animals are far more creative. Cheers

Haha, a 4 by 4. That's what I thought of too. What do you mean if it was coming at you or going away from you? I don't think a 4 foot 80 pound lizard is going to move too much. Unless it learned to not use its legs and moved like a snake. Hahaha

Oh, and I am aware of the other killings of animals. Its just that their are so many other things (like I said, feral domesticated animals) there that are actually dangerous and those residents are scared of a (almost completely harmless) lizard? Just goes to show you what ignorance of a subject does to people. Us fragile humans don't like the unknown, it scares us.

Cheers,
Ryan

Hahahaha. That's funny.

Eric

The natives of Madagascar are petrified of chameleons. Women especially are banished from the home for the evening to sleep outside if they touch one. They also have some folklore about miscarriages / misfortune w/ them. At least they avoid the lizards instead of firing a colt .45 at them.

The recent 80 lb. monitor story is from Casselberry, FL which is quite a distance from the feral Niles in Cape Coral...and yes, Floridians are once again embarrassing me.

ryan, i dont know how to contact either (i live in illinois) but i coudnt agree more with what you said about ferel and loosed mammalian pets. maybe go to cnn.com there might be a viewer comment page.
joe

I don't know about CNN, but the police chief's number is 407-262-7616 ext1064. His name is John Pavlis and his email is jpavlis@casselberry.org. Hope that helps.

Cheers
Jeremy
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.16 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
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1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

I was just kidding. This stuff happens all of the time. Still, it bothers me; maybe I actually will give them a shout out...

Thanks for going through the effort of actually finding the number.

Cheers,
Ryan

Wasn't hard, freedom of information act, hippies finally got something right.

Jeremy

>>I was just kidding. This stuff happens all of the time. Still, it bothers me; maybe I actually will give them a shout out...
>>
>>Thanks for going through the effort of actually finding the number.
>>
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Ryan
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.16 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

The fire chief of Lake County said it was a 4' nile weighing about 6-8 lbs. This just demonstrates the sensationalism generated by the news!!Dennis Sargent, a long time herper, is the fire chief. Tom Crutchfield

Didn't look much like a Nile in the video I saw of it on CNN.com. 'Course, it was pretty darn blurry, too. Oh well. I hope the little bugger gets away.
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1.1 Ornate Uromastyx [Re and Wadjet]
1.0 Eastern Kingsnake [Duke]
1.0 Savannah Monitor [Zephyrus]
1.0 Quince Monitor [Poe]
0.1 Eastern Box Turtle [Abel]
0.2 Leopard Geckos [Ghost and Ankh]
1.0 Green Iguana (Rescue) [Spikeless]

Imagine the uproar if they shot stray cats and dogs on site. Freakin hippocrates.

From all over the US, on a daily basis stray, feral, and escaped dogs are shot. Its more common in heavily populated areas (cities) where dog fighting, gangs, drugs, spill over into more normal peoples lives. Dog fighting seems to move around the country in some paces it is worse, and the next year somewhere else it is worse, but these incidents with dogs being shot by authorities seems to follow these shifting trends. I read a recent article where in one part of Texas dangerous dog attacks, serious injuries, and fatalities have been so common over the last year that they cannot keep up with the investigations, especially if the new law takes effect there which can place felony charges on vicious dog owners.
Its just not HOT news to report these things countrywide all of the time, but it is hot news when a 4ft lizard is caught on video in Florida where a few are trying to make it a big issue.
Most people dont realize that a 4ft nile monitor is less than 18 1/3 inches STV length (with almost 30 inches of tail behind it), but 4ft long sounds more exciting.
For comparison this is a picture of a 4ft flavi-argus (larger body size than a nile 4ft long) next to a large male housecat, if the cat is only 13lbs, the lizard is obviously much less.