Giant Goanna Lizard Appears on Australian Home

[satanboy]

Around the holidays, it's normal to see houses decked out with strand of lights and garland -- but what about a 5-foot lizard? That's exactly what Eric Holland found on the side of his Australian residence earlier this week.

As reported by local newspaper The Border Mail, Holland was working in his shed when a massive goanna lizard scurried up the wall of his Thurgoona, New South Wales home.

"It was a big surprise really," he told the newspaper. "I sometimes get blue tongues and lizards in the backyard but never anything quite like this."

Holland managed to snap a photo of the lounging lizard before it vacated the premises; the lizard has yet to re-appear.

The Border Mail is now holding a contest to name the world-famous lizard.

Also known as a lace monitor (Varanus varius), the large creatures can grow to be nearly 7 feet in length. The lizard is found in forests and tablelands throughout eastern Australia. According to the Australian Reptile Park, lace monitors are able to climb "with great speed and agility," and spend most of their time in trees.

V. varius feeds on birds, small mammals and insects, and has been known to leave the comfort of a tree canopy to feed on roadkill.

discovery

 

[Jings]

Thank goodness it's just a giant Goanna lizard. I thought it was a Jehova's Witness.

 

[azbob]

"I'll just stay here behind the rain gutter where no one will see me."