Flesh eating monitors?!

[jarich]

Good grief, apparently we all better watch out. Nile monitors are just waiting in bathrooms to ambush unsuspecting people in Florida because they have a taste for human flesh. Ugh, stupidity is the most prevalent and contagious disease.

'Swamp Wars': Flesh-Eating Dangerous Lizard Captured In Public Park Restroom (VIDEO) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/07/swamp-wars-flesh-eating-lizard-public-park-video_n_1494122.html)

[Bradyloach]

people are discusting..... making monitors have bad names... monitors are beautiful animals.

[alessia55]

Oh g-d... the extremes TV shows will go to... :no:

[StudentoReptile]

People wonder why I don't watch it anymore.

[KORBIN5895]

Hahahahah! You just gotta love stupid people!

[TalonNC]

I watched this last night...

The extremes they go to for ratings...

They made it out as if the savs killed and ate a guy in his home...

when Stupidity Killed the guy and Hunger fed the savs...

[USMCgunner11]

I caught an animal planet tv show called "fatal attractions" and the premise of the show is to portray people's animal obsessions that ultimately kill them. I only watched one episode where there was this loner-type guy who collected monitors and horded them like a deranged elderly cat-lady. He gave them free roam of his small apartment and kept his heater on year round to satisfy them.

It was quite sick and stupid. He invited his friends and neighbors over apparently and they saw all this but didn't say anything. The outcome was as expected and he was somehow over powered and killed. They fed off his carcass until his neighbors were alerted by the smell. This occurred in Massachusetts a few years ago if I remember correctly.

[Gregg M]

While the media may be over dramatic, some of the larger varanid species have been known to feed on human remains like Komodoensis, salvator, albigularis, and even niles. However, ony the Komodo dragons have been suspected of actually killing and eating humans.

With that being said, a nile of that size can indeed inflict injuries and can be a danger. To people who are into varanids and know how to handle them, a huge nile would basically be no threat what so ever, but if encountered by a child or adult who is not versed in their handling, they can be somewhat dagerous. That is a fact.

I do not know why so many reptile keepers take this so lightly. And to be quite honest, these stories surface because the reptile trade has allowed these animals to colonize the southern tip of North America. It is really no ones fault but our own.

Things like this will eventually put varanids in the same type of restrictions as burmese pythons. There may come a day where all we will be able to trade in is dwarf varanids. That is as long as none of them are abe to set up shop in the wilds of Florida.

[millertime89]

While the media may be over dramatic, some of the larger varanid species have been known to feed on human remains like Komodoensis, salvator, albigularis, and even niles. However, ony the Komodo dragons have been suspected of actually killing and eating humans.

With that being said, a nile of that size can indeed inflict injuries and can be a danger. To people who are into varanids and know how to handle them, a huge nile would basically be no threat what so ever, but if encountered by a child or adult who is not versed in their handling, they can be somewhat dagerous. That is a fact.

I do not know why so many reptile keepers take this so lightly. And to be quite honest, these stories surface because the reptile trade has allowed these animals to colonize the southern tip of North America. It is really no ones fault but our own.

Things like this will eventually put varanids in the same type of restrictions as burmese pythons. There may come a day where all we will be able to trade in is dwarf varanids. That is as long as none of them are abe to set up shop in the wilds of Florida.

Oh come now, its just those crazy German tourists...

Ok, bad jokes aside...
I completely agree, its a sad state of affairs the industry finds itself in at this time as a result of our own negligence. I really hope the monitor industry doesn't have to go through the things that the keepers of the "Big 9" have had to go through.
Monitors, especially with the recent discovery that some of them have the ability to inject their prey with venom when they bite, are not a species to be taken lightly, just like the "Big 9" but those keepers thatare capable and competent should not be punished. This is why I'm in favor of an education and licensing system for gaints, hots, and maybe it should be something that leaders in the monitor industry should consider. Just throwing it out there.

[infernalis]

New York state already restricts what Monitors I can have.

Anything larger than a Savannah and I need a special permit to be legal.

[millertime89]

New York state already restricts what Monitors I can have.

Anything larger than a Savannah and I need a special permit to be legal.

What does that permit entail?

[infernalis]

Not exactly sure, I will find out when I try to get an Argus.

[millertime89]

Thanks Wayne, I find the more I know, the better prepared I am should something happen. Knowledge is power.