[flkingfan]

Good luck! That thing would have scared the you-know-what out of me if it just showed up! Maybe post the picture on found animal sites at least so if it is someones pet they know the vicinity it is in.

[mango23]

Originally Posted by flkingfan

Good luck! That thing would have scared the you-know-what out of me if it just showed up! Maybe post the picture on found animal sites at least so if it is someones pet they know the vicinity it is in.

I didn't get a chance to put out the trap because my wife loaned it to a friend to trap some stray cats. I sort of forgot about it then today I go out to the car and it is layng on the side of the house sunning itself. When it sees me it goes under the house, my house has crawl space. I think it has been living under the house. I put a plate of tuna by the opening and it took just a few minutes for it to come out and eat it. I am sure I can catch it tonight although it seems active in the day time. Either way I want it to know there is food to be had so it stays around till I trap it. I bet I catch it by tomorrow. I think it is starving. I doubt it knows how to hunt it waits for a human to feed it. When I get it I will try to find the owner if not I think someone will take it. It was a pet for sure from the way it acts.

[flkingfan]

Maybe you can give it to a wildlife center if no one claims it. Good luck!

[1coolcustomer]

I believe I'd be changing my underwear after waking up and seeing that thing in my shop. Recentley on Animal Planet there was a story about a guy that had about 6 of those lizards in his apartment and he got bit by one on a Friday, he died the next Tuesday. They have toxins in their saliva that paralyze and make the victim dizzy and unconscious, so when he got by the one and became immobilized the other lizards started eating his flesh. Cops said it was the most gruesome scene they ever responded to.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Holy cow.
I was already amazed at the photo, then I read 1coolcustomer's post. Yikes!

Be careful, Mango!

(BTW, I did catch your typo.)

We had a green anole who survived the winter living on a tomato plant in our unfinished, unheated granny flat. That's a bit different from the reptile living under Mango's house.

From the article:
Folks say the stray cat population is declining. There are unconfirmed reports of missing dachshunds and plundered koi ponds......"One thing we do know: These are not little lizards eating bugs."

[hiknapster]

I think we all caught the typo but we knew what you meant.

That article says they can get to be as long as 7 feet. Wow.

Did you trap him, yet?

Maybe these folks will come out and get it?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...,2827148.story

[mango23]

To finish the story I trapped it a few days ago. Once in the trap it was a really disgusting animal. First thing it did was puke up a three foot snake it had eaten some time recently. After getting no help I finally got directed to the game and fish commission who came and picked it up. They seemed to not believe it was a really a Nile monitor when they spoke to me. I guess they get a lot of calls and most are just some Iguana or something. When they saw what it was they were happy I had caught it. They said this thing is bad news. Unlike an Iguana that may eat your flowers this thing is a carnivorous predator. It swims, runs , climbs trees, digs, they said nothing is safe from it. The guy told me if they were in the everglades they would wipe out many species even alligators. He said they would learn what a gator nest look liked and dig up and eat the eggs to the point there would be no more gators. The are quick, tough and smart a real bad thing to have around. So now it's gone and my cat can go out again. I think the cat was traumatized by the thing, he is tip toeing around the yard checking everything out to be sure it is safe.

[flkingfan]

Originally Posted by mango23

It swims, runs , climbs trees, digs, they said nothing is safe from it. The guy told me if they were in the everglades they would wipe out many species even alligators. He said they would learn what a gator nest look liked and dig up and eat the eggs to the point there would be no more gators. The are quick, tough and smart a real bad thing to have around. So now it's gone and my cat can go out again. I think the cat was traumatized by the thing, he is tip toeing around the yard checking everything out to be sure it is safe.

At first I thought you were talking about human beings...j/k but of course I'm really not. Glad you got it trapped!

[mango23]

Originally Posted by flkingfan

At first I thought you were talking about human beings...j/k but of course I'm really not. Glad you got it trapped!

These things will be around long after we have become extinct, which may be sooner then later in geological time. Our time as a dominate species will have been little more then the one tic of the clock.

[Kevin from Tampa]

Glad you got rid of it. I'd have killed it, but either way it's gone.

I wish that ban on snakes would extend to other exotic animals like this one. Too many idiots who don't give a crap about the environment own these sorts of things.