Massive, five-foot monitor lizard spotted strutting around North Port

Parker Fluke
·1 min read
17

NORTH PORT, Fla. - A North Port resident did a double take last week when she spotted a five-foot lizard strutting out of the woods.

<div>Courtesy: Renee Aland</div>
Courtesy: Renee Aland

One North Port woman said she was driving down Hillsborough Boulevard on Monday, May 20, when she spotted a massive Asian water monitor lizard ambling out of the woods.

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"Oh, he's huge," someone can be heard saying in the video. "He's just strutting across the road."

According to a Facebook post by Renee Aland, the lizard had walked out of the woods near the canal on Hillsboro Boulevard just south of Bamboo Road.

She called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to report the sighting.

According to iNaturalist, the Asian water monitor is considered the second-largest lizard species in the world. The lizards are native to South and Southeast Asia and have a natural affinity for water, living near lakes, swamps, ponds, and rivers.

The whereabouts of the lizard are currently unknown.

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