Large monitor lizard rescued from Arizona freeway

July 11 (UPI) -- Reptile experts were called in to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety when a 4- to 5-foot monitor lizard was spotted running loose on the freeway.

AZDPS said calls started coming in about a large lizard on eastbound Loop 101, near 16th street in Phoenix, about 6:14 a.m. Wednesday.

"Not your average commuter," officials wrote on social media.

Troopers arrived on the scene and called the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary after confirming there was indeed a monitor lizard running in the roadway.

The troopers, joined by Arizona Department of Transportation personnel, kept watch on the lizard as it fled into a storm drain before the reptile experts arrived.

"Phoenix Herpetological staff arrived, the storm grate was removed and they successfully retrieved the monitor lizard," the post said.

The lizard was later identified as Archie, a Nile monitor who belongs to Phoenix resident Seth Vancura.

Vancura said Archie had escaped from his enclosure during a storm about two weeks ago, and he had been tracking sightings of the reptile in the area, but wasn't about to catch him until the freeway incident.

Archie was returned to his home.