Posted on 03/25/2017 10:08:45 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Trappers in a Florida city set out trap cages that managed to snare a "monster" 4-foot Nile monitor lizard that had been hunting protected burrowing owls.
Neighbors said they feared for the safety of their pets after spotting the massive lizard wandering near their Cape Coral homes, so trappers were summoned to capture the invasive predator.
"That's really my fear," Julie Weiss, whose home is in front of the monitor's nest, told WBBH-TV. "I've never felt threatened by one, like one was going to attack me or anything like that, but it's the fear and safety of the animals."
The lizard was caught in a cage trap Tuesday and hauled away by authorities.
Residents said they had feared not only for their pets, but for the protected burrowing owls that live in the area and make up one of the lizards' preferred food sources.
"They're just evil. I mean they're one step from a Komodo Dragon for God sake," neighbor Clark Sweeney said. "They are an invasive predator that has a toxic bite and they kill endangered owls."
The city's Environmental Resources Division, which offers trapping services for the Nile monitors, said the lizards were introduced to the area sometime before the 1990s, likely as a result of the pet trade. There are believed to be more than 1,000 of the lizards living in the Cape Coral area.
Snakes - Lizards - whatever - Ping.
If you knew the type of people that live in S Florida, Broward County especially, you6would cheer for more dragon lizards.
Four feet is a good-sized Nile monitor, but not extremely large.
When the Global Economic Collapse hits, they’ll eat rats ... maybe before the rats eat us.
I was shooting for bigger game. I shot two bucks. That was the biggest game I shot all day.
Good, I say. That’ll teach those darned owls to build proper nests in trees like any other self-respecting birds.
Live in a Florida neighborhood plagued with poisonous Cain Toads. One neighbor had a $900 vet bill when their dog bit one. Pythons are a known and well publicized major threat to our Everglades mammals and birds. Also lived in northern Virginia when the snakehead fish was introduced into our waterways, subsequently killing off much of the native fish population. Without natural predators, these introduced species decimate native species and ruin the established environment. These introduced species belong in zoos, not private homes.
OMG that was funny! LOL
It has been reported that they have cobras on the loose down there.
If true, isnt that a peach?
I will take AZ. You can have FL.
Did you hear what the Doe said as she walked out of the woods?
"I'll never do that for two bucks again."
Leave the lizards alone and deport the illegals.
What’s it taste like bbq’ed? Would it make nice boots?
Poor lizards might get indigestion though.
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