Reidsville resident finds African lizard in backyard

Charles Lovings found an African Savannah Monitor lizard going for one of his cows last week. He has decided to keep it as a pet.

By: By LATALA PAYNE Staff writer | GoDanRiver
Published: July 31, 2010

Reidsville resident Charles Lovings didn’t think finding an African lizard would be on his to-do list last week. He said he found a Savannah Monitor taking a snap at one of his cows.

“I had no idea what it was, and it was in the pasture going for one of the cows,” he said. “When the cow was walking up to the lizard to sniff him, he lunged at the cow’s nose.”
Lovings said he grabbed the lizard by the tail and put him in a cage. After speaking with animal control officials, Lovings decided to keep the lizard as a pet.

“He’s a little aggressive, but evidently he got too big to be somebody’s pet and they turned him loose,” he said. “He gave me a hard time but we assume he’s been in the wild for a while now.”
The lizard’s diet consists of small mammals, insects, eggs, birds and dead animal remains, according to animal control. Lovings said a bird fell from a tree in his backyard and that was the lizard’s first meal.

He didn’t say what he was going to name his special pet.