Large lizard on the loose!

(WFLA) A large lizard is on the loose in North Port, Florida.

Last Thursday evening, Erik Merlo thought he heard his girlfriend outside, but when he didn’t see her car, he went for a closer look. Instead of his girlfriend, he found the massive lizard at the door.

It was a four foot long Asian Water Monitor.

“It was pretty scary,” Merlo says. “First thing that went through my mind – ‘What’s it doing here? What is it?'”

Merlo briefly went back inside, and when he returned, it was gone.

“I thought it was an alligator at first, and I wasn’t too worried at that point, because you know, Florida, we’re used to them. But after looking at it I thought, “Yeah that’s someone’s pet, that’s not supposed to be around here at all,'” he says.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission says the Asian Water Monitor is an invasive species that could harm the ecosystem. In the days since, the lizard has revisited Merlo’s house, damaged his back lanai and terrorized his garden.

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