WPTV (Vero Beach, Florida) 15 September 10 Nile monitor found in Vero Beach dog park - Animal Control officers killed the lizard (Carolyn Scofield)
Vero Beach, Fla.: Vero Beach Animal Control Officer Bruce Dangerfield went on a call expecting to find a small alligator.
He instead found a three-foot long Nile monitor lizard sauntering swiftly through a dog park.
Dangerfield chased the reptile into a tree. He then shot it with a dart gun.
Nile monitors don't get rescued or relocated. They are aggressive, and a threat to people and pets.
Nile monitors can grow to twice the size of the one Dangerfield killed and he says every part of their body is dangerous.
"They can whip their tail, they can put your eye out with their tail," says Dangerfield. "They can rip their arms up with their claws and if they bite you, you're on your way to the hospital."
Nile monitors are considering an exotic or invasive species by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"They get quail eggs, baby anything, birds, groundling birds, they could eat baby kittens, baby puppies," says Dangerfield. "There's nothing they won't eat. Maybe a tin can or something."
Dangerfield caught two other Nile monitors in the vicinity of the park within the last two years.
He believes there are larger adult monitors somewhere in the area breeding. They find their way into the outdoors when irresponsible pet owners release them.
FWC officers will examine the Nile monitor Wednesday to figure out how it had been surviving in Vero Beach.
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/nile-monitor-found-in-vero-beach-dog-park
Nile monitor found in Vero Beach dog park