Plantation Neighborhood Warned About Nile Monitor Lizard On The Loose

PLANTATION (CBSMiami) - Residents of the Tara Park neighborhood in Plantation are being warned to keep an eye out for a large Nile monitor lizard that's been spotted in the area.

Monitor lizards, the largest species of lizard in Africa, are not native to Florida.

Nile monitors can grow up to five feet in length and weigh up to 15 pounds. As for their diet, they eat just about everything including, "crabs, crayfish, mussels, snails, slugs, termites, caterpillars, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers and crickets, fish, frogs, toads, lizards, turtles, snakes, young crocodiles, and other reptiles, birds and their eggs, and small mammals," according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife webpage.

Area residents may want to keep their cats and small dogs inside.

They have a pattern of light yellow chevrons on their back which appear as bands, or stripes, closer to the head and tail.

Anyone who spots the monitor is urged to immediately call FWC's Exotic Species Hotline at 1-888-IveGot1 (1-888-483-4681) or online at http://ow.ly/8cUr50uy0XT. If possible, please take a picture and note the location when reporting.

The FWC is currently working with the University of Florida and other partners to try and remove this lizard from the area.