Dangerous loose lizard nabbed in N.Y.

SAYVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Animal control officials in a New York suburb were looking for an out-of-state zoo that wants a dangerous monitor lizard captured under a backyard deck.

Police and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Suffolk County, east of New York City, were called Monday by neighbors who spotted the 18-inch lizard killing birds in a tree.

Native to Asia, the carnivorous lizards can live 20 years and reach a length of 8 feet, which SPCA chief Roy Gross explained is why they are illegal to own in New York state.

"They are considered extremely aggressive, and if it bites a human, it will take flesh," Gross told Newsday. "It not only can consume a pet, it can consume a child. They're extremely, extremely dangerous."

After several foiled attempts to get the lizard from beneath the deck, smoke from traffic flares flushed it into a large blanket-like net, the report said.

The SPCA is willing to donate the lizard to a zoo in a state where the reptiles are legal, the report said.