Florida town terrorized by lizard
The Lizard King cometh. No, not Jim Morrison — a real Lizard King: A six-foot, 100-pound reptile that’s been chilling in a South Florida neighbourhood and appears to be unstoppable, or at least untrappable.
The hulking monstrosity has been thwomping around in the Broward County town of Davie since Monday and has thwarted all attempts at capture, including hooks, hunting dogs and human hands.
Experts have identified it as a Nile monitor, a breed of gargantuan lizard native to Africa.
Nile monitors are “the largest, most dangerous non-indigenous lizard in the United States,” according to the United States Geological Survey.
Full-grown Nile monitors are known to be “ill-tempered and aggressive” according to Reptiles Magazine, and sometimes (gulp) they hunt in packs.
It first appeared in the backyard of the Lieberman family on Aug. 27 and has returned several times since.
At first, the family thought it was an alligator because it was so massive.
Then it flicked its skinny, forked tongue.
“It looked like a dinosaur,” homeowner Maria Lieberman told WSVN 7News.
“My kids were screaming. We just watched Jurassic Park, so it was insane.”
Maria and her husband, Zach, have two children, ages 2 and 4, who have been too terrified to go outside.
The lizard has been making full use of the property — sunbathing, stalking through the grass, and even coming up to the sliding glass door.
Much to the family’s horror, it does not appear to be afraid of people.