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"Agressive and poisonous Nile Monitor..."

Dumb asses. I'm suprised they didn't say it was chasing them breathing fire. Wouldn't have shocked me much if they did. Idiots. Absolute idiots. :headbang:
 
Poisonous? I wonder who ate it...

That being said, it's not a Nile Monitor at all, lmao. It's a Black and White Tegu.

:headbang:
 
Hmm.... I thought it looked like a Tegu too. But I am no expert.

Anyhow... no one said anything in the article about poison OR venom... so where did that come from? Just an interesting headline?

Morons....
 
Hypancistrus said:
Anyhow... no one said anything in the article about poison OR venom... so where did that come from? Just an interesting headline?

Yeah, it's a Tegu for sure. There's no mistaking their head when compared to a 'true' Monitor.

As for poisonous/venomous, the lady says it in the video and there's also the sign in the video that says "Poison" on it, heh.
 
I hate it when this happens. Something I feel very strongly about. The press can make even the tamest animal seem like a monster if they want to. We suffer this on a daily basis owning a very loving people friendly rottweiler, but because of the press my dog gets shunned at in the street just because of her breed. Makes me sooooo angry lol.
 
Yes definitely a tegu. Yellow journalism at its finest I might add. In the defense of their paper, there is a research scientist(Dr. Frye, aka the Venom Doc), that claims all large lizards are venomous, siimply because they have cavities that may have at one time, supported venom glands, and sport toxic saliva. I disagree with him, as every species on the planet which produces saliva has some toxicity to it so therefore your dog is venomous, by the basis of his research. This is the same guy that claims that some American colubrids, are as venomous as cobras, if not more so.
 
Dreqqus said:
Yes definitely a tegu. Yellow journalism at its finest I might add. In the defense of their paper, there is a research scientist(Dr. Frye, aka the Venom Doc), that claims all large lizards are venomous, siimply because they have cavities that may have at one time, supported venom glands, and sport toxic saliva. I disagree with him, as every species on the planet which produces saliva has some toxicity to it so therefore your dog is venomous, by the basis of his research. This is the same guy that claims that some American colubrids, are as venomous as cobras, if not more so.

Edited out - I was confused.

As for the paper, I find it to be uneducated journalism at it's finest. Afterall, don't you think if they were fluent in Dr. Frye's work, they'd know it was venomous and not poisonous? ;)

Edit: Okay, so I've read about that, but not his works.
 
And remember to watch out for those voracious pygmy tigers--they're known to eat people!

*insert photo of marmalade tabby and account of old cat lady dying in her house, etc.* :rolleyes:
 
Dreqqus said:
Yes definitely a tegu. Yellow journalism at its finest I might add. In the defense of their paper, there is a research scientist(Dr. Frye, aka the Venom Doc), that claims all large lizards are venomous, siimply because they have cavities that may have at one time, supported venom glands, and sport toxic saliva. I disagree with him, as every species on the planet which produces saliva has some toxicity to it so therefore your dog is venomous, by the basis of his research. This is the same guy that claims that some American colubrids, are as venomous as cobras, if not more so.

I think that's quite a bit less than what he (Dr. Frye) says. He says that they have venom glands that DO produce venom. Not just that there is toxic saliva. Big difference.
Though I believe he adds to that that he isn't talking about very much venom (quantity wise) even if it is a very real and potent venom. And most species don't have any real means of delivering that venom. :-offtopic sorry..

But as for the picture, that's not likely to be the animal the story is written about IMO.
 
BezilsGirl said:
Dumb asses. I'm suprised they didn't say it was chasing them breathing fire. Wouldn't have shocked me much if they did. Idiots. Absolute idiots. :headbang:
I do not think these people are dumb asses, I personally think that they are not used to seeing animals like that and understand them. After all, this is a large predatory animal that is illegal in this state. I think the dumb ass was the person who probably bought the lizard and had it get loose or let it go.
Still this is not a cuddly lizard, and if it wanted to it could seriously harm someone via a tail lash or a bite.
 
I e-mailed Jenifer Bauer to inform her that her ID was wrong. She just replyed and say that they know now what the animal is and they did a follow up story on it. She blames animal control on the wrong ID. If Animal control can't tell the differnce between a gator and a tagu, I thinks it's time for him to find another job. imo
 
tricksterpup said:
I do not think these people are dumb asses, I personally think that they are not used to seeing animals like that and understand them. After all, this is a large predatory animal that is illegal in this state. I think the dumb ass was the person who probably bought the lizard and had it get loose or let it go.
Still this is not a cuddly lizard, and if it wanted to it could seriously harm someone via a tail lash or a bite.


They should get all the info right before reporting it, and for that they are dumb ass!
 
My favorite part of the article was this:

"They grown pretty big, and luckily we got him when he was little," Currey said.

Yay grammar!
 
Corny Noob said:
My favorite part of the article was this:

"They grown pretty big, and luckily we got him when he was little," Currey said.

Yay grammar!
Its not grammar problem if they were exactly quoted in saying this.
 
reptile_jones said:
I e-mailed Jenifer Bauer to inform her that her ID was wrong. She just replyed and say that they know now what the animal is and they did a follow up story on it. She blames animal control on the wrong ID. If Animal control can't tell the differnce between a gator and a tagu, I thinks it's time for him to find another job. imo
Please jones, get off your high horse on this, not everyone who deal with animals are experts in reptiles and know every species. So if the animal was confused with a Monitor. It happens, She followed up on the story as you stated. But Animal Control's job isn't to know the difference in a Monitor or a Tegu but to control and protect animals as well as people. To them it was a large predatory lizard and Florida has a large Nile monitor problem.
 
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