DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has captured a giant lizard that was originally spotted in a Davie community months ago.
Trappers had been trying to capture the large Nile monitor for over two months.
Tuesday, trappers accomplished their goal and picked up the reptile in the area of Griffin Road and State Road 7 in Hollywood.
“I’m happy that this search is over,” resident Zack Lieberman said. “People have been scared to walk their dogs and scared to go in their backyards because of this thing that could be lurking out there.”
The 6-foot-long lizard was first spotted in August slithering along Lieberman’s home. When he tried to catch it, the lizard fled and disappeared.
Frightened for the safety of his children and neighbors, he called the FWC for help. The following day, they set several traps around his home.
“The fear was the speed it had and how quickly it can get from point A to point B,” Lieberman said, “and maybe hit a child or scratch a child, bite a child, grab a small dog. The things were riddled with bacteria, so those are a big fear for the whole community.”
He also said FWC officers found the animal’s owners and fined them with a misdemeanor.
The owners are now working with the FWC to relocate the animal to a zoo.
For Lieberman, the capture is a sigh of relief for his family.
“We can enjoy our pool again,” he said. “People can walk their dogs and not have that sense of fear anymore.”
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