Durban — It took two and a half hours to lure a Nile monitor lizard from a swimming pool in order for it to be relocated to a suitable environment.
Durban snake catcher Nick Evans said that last week, a large Nile monitor lizard had found its way into a garden in the suburbs in Pinetown.
The swimming pool had been filled with garden refuse, and being the rainy season, there was water in there too, so the lizard found it a comfortable place to live in.
Evans said that made the residents uncomfortable but the other worry was where the lizard would move on to because there were dogs in neighbouring properties.
If it got into one of those properties, it would likely be killed.
“Yes, even large specimens get killed by dogs, with dogs rarely getting a scratch,” Evans explained.
He said the best solution was to remove the lizard.
Evans said that digging everything out of the pool would be a major task, and with a high water level, everything would have been heavy, plus the lizard would just go underwater.
He said that a trap seemed the best option.
Evans said he contacted Nile monitor researcher Euan Genevier who had lent him a trap before but it never worked.
“This time, he loaned me one he found to be more successful,” Evans said.
“I set it next to the pool, covering it with sheets of corrugated iron for shade, as there wasn’t much else, and put some bait in.”
Evans said they thought it would take a few days.
“About 2.5 hours later, I got a call from the resident, to say the lizard was in the trap! I couldn't believe it!”
Evans said he was with his friends Duncan and Jade Slabbert at the time, and they raced over to the property.
“Getting it out proved quite difficult, as it knew it was safer in there, but eventually, we got it out, a few scratches later. It was huge! We seem to be only rescuing big ones of late!”
Evans said that he then met up with Genevier to collect data from the animal, before releasing it.
“The resident initially estimated it to be around 1.8m long. Well, she was only a few centimetres off, which was impressive. It was just under 8kg, a big lizard!” Evans said.
“It's in a much safer environment now.”
Evans thanked the family for calling and said it had no intention of killing the lizard, and were so helpful to him, constantly monitoring the lizard’s movements, keeping him posted, and then watching the trap. He said it was nice to have cooperation like that.
He also thanked the Slabberts for their help.
Evans added that learning about Durban's monitors with Genevier has been such a rewarding experience.
“They are absolutely fascinating creatures that are so worth protecting. They're important predators to have in our ecosystems.”
Evans said that as he mentioned before, they were always interested in sightings around Durban, and Genevier is keeping tabs on monitor movement in Pietermaritzburg too.
“Please let us know if you spot one. A photo, address/location, date and approximate time are useful.”
Information can be sent to [email protected] and [email protected].
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