‘Monster' lizard captured in Florida backyard

Floridians are used to lizards scurrying past them or chilling by pools.

However, what one Florida woman found sunbathing in her backyard is being compared by some to a dragon or monster of sorts.

Julie Weiss, of Cape Coral, said wildlife trappers captured a 4-foot-long Nile monitor lizard that was nesting near her yard, WBBH reported.

Weiss told WBBH the creature used to walk along the seawall or sunbathe in a flower bed, but recently was getting too close to her pets.

“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,” Weiss told WBBH.

The lizard might have been after more than just her pets. Burrowing owls are a protected species of the Cape and just happen to be a favorite snack of the Nile monitor lizard, which is why the city tries to trap them.

“They’re just evil. I mean they’re one step from a Komodo dragon for God’s sake,” Clark Sweeney, Weiss’ neighbor, told WBBH.

Read more at WBBH.

Cox Media Group