The other day I had to laugh because I had just written about all the crazy animal stories on the news lately when one more, this time local in nature, aired. It was about a rather large (three feet long) and unusual lizard captured in a nearby state park.
The lizard wasn’t all that unusual as far as being a rare species that hasn’t been seen for years or anything of that nature. It was a run of the mill monitor lizard. What was unusual was that it was in Long Hunter State Park, where such reptiles aren’t usually seen.
Most likely it was someone’s pet and either it escaped or the owner abandoned it. (Bad lizard owner!) But what amused me was a man they were interviewing during the newscast hinted that they can be rather tricky to catch and that you wouldn’t want to be bit by one.
I also want to say they said something about this is the second one they found recently and they think there might be another one out there. (I couldn’t find an archive of the newscast to verify that, though. It might have been that they’ve had several sightings of the lizard and don’t know if people were just seeing that one or if it had a buddy out there too.)
However, since that aired I’ve been teasing Tabby every time she brings another lizard into the house. (We’ve had four more incidents since the one last week.)
“That’s right, Tab,” I say as I scoop the lizard into the cup to release it back to the garden. “Hone your skills. I may lend you to the park rangers to help them with any more loose lizards they find.”
Although, at three feet long, that monitor lizard is easily almost three times her size. (Somehow I think she could still take it though.)
However, if becoming a lizard wrangler doesn’t work out for her, she’s always got her talents as a Shredinator to fall back on!