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5-foot Monitor lizard wanders Calif. neighborhood

This image provided by Riverside County Animal Services shows Animal Services officer, Kim McWhorter, holding a 5-foot long Monitor lizard animal controls officers found wandering around a condo complex in the city of Riverside, Calif., Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011. Black-throated Monitor lizards are carnivorous and native to the grasslands of Africa (Photo: AP)
This image provided by Riverside County Animal Services shows Animal Services officer, Kim McWhorter, holding a 5-foot long Monitor lizard animal controls officers found wandering around a condo complex in the city of Riverside, Calif., Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011. Black-throated Monitor lizards are carnivorous and native to the grasslands of Africa (Photo: AP)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Animal services officers often get calls reporting "huge," monstrous reptiles, only to arrive and find an itty-bitty garden snake.

The 5-foot Monitor lizard wandering around a condo complex in the city of Riverside was way bigger than animal control officer Jenny Selter could have imagined.

"She said she saw it and almost jumped back in her truck," said John Welsh, spokesman for Riverside County Animal Services. "The residents were freaking out because here's the Godzilla-like creature walking down the sidewalk."

Selter managed to get a catch pole - a long pole with a loop at the end that's used to handle vicious dogs - around the animal's neck, Welsh said. It was docile at first, but then it started hissing.

A police officer grabbed the lizard's body while Selter held onto its sharp, lashing tail, and together they put it in a compartment of her truck that's usually used for large dogs.

Black-throated Monitor lizards are carnivorous, legal to own in California and native to the African grasslands and parts of Asia. Juveniles go for about $100 in pet stores, but they grow.

Back at the shelter, staff found the reptile was well-behaved for a Monitor lizard.

"The last one we had was nasty. But this one doesn't hiss and we were able to walk it around. It was investigating and didn't snap at anyone," Welsh said. "We suspect that it's been someone's pet for a long time, because it's so big. I think they might let it wander around the house. Maybe it sleeps on a bean bag?"

Welsh thinks the scaly pet might have escaped its cage or gotten loose while its owner was away, and he hoped its owner comes to claim it soon.

[한글 요약]

미국 캘리포니아주에 무려 150cm가 넘는 초대형 도마뱀이 발견되어 지역 주민들을 충격에 빠뜨렸다.

문제의 도마뱀은 현지 날짜 25일, 캘리포니아주 리버사이드시에 위치한 한 콘도 단지 내 인도에 그 모습을 드러냈다. 고질라와 흡사하게 생긴 거대 도마뱀의 깜짝 등장은 이를 직접 목격한 주민들의 간담을 서늘하게 만들었다.

도마뱀 신고를 받고 출동한 지역 동물 보호소 담당자 제니 쉘터는 먼저 고리 막대를 이용하여 도마뱀을 진정시켰다. 처음에 이 도마뱀은 사람의 말에 순종하는 것처럼 보였지만, 곧 소리를 내며 공격적인 태도를 취하였다. 

쉘터가 뾰족하고, 거세게 저항하는 도마뱀의 꼬리를 낚아채고 출동한 경찰관이 도마뱀의 몸통을 잡고 나서, 우여곡절 끝에 왕도마뱀은 쉘터가 출동당시 몰고 온 트럭 내에 적재되어 있던 동물 우리에 수감되었다.

여러 사람들은 공포의 도가니에 몰아넣은 왕도마뱀의 갑작스런 출현에 대해 동물 보호단체 관계자들은 "도마뱀의 거대한 몸집으로 판단하건데, 이 도마뱀은 오랫동안 주인의 보호를 받아왔을 것이다"고 추측하고 있다.

아프리카의 초원지역과 아시아에 서식하는 것으로 알려지고 있는 생포된  도마뱀은 육식동물이며, 캘리포니아주는 이런 왕도마뱀의 양육을 합법으로 정하고 있다.
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