If you’ve ever wondered how Massachusetts would handle a surprise visit from a large, semi-aquatic lizard, events this week in Webster provide an unexpectedly practical answer. According to UPI, animal control officers are actively searching for a water monitor lizard that has made itself a temporary—and highly unauthorized—resident along Blueberry Lane.
The Blueberry Lane Dragon
UPI documents that the encounter began when residents spotted the sizable reptile ambling through the neighborhood, prompting an official response. Described as a species native to Asia and “not legal to keep as pets in Massachusetts,” the water monitor’s presence is something of a jurisdictional mystery, not to mention an unusual sight in suburban New England. Officials have clarified via a Facebook post that, despite its imposing appearance, the monitor is not known to pose a threat to humans or typical pets. Instead, its interests reportedly lie in travel, tree-climbing, and seeking out bodies of water—often not the skills most appreciated in an unexpected houseguest.
Authorities, as the outlet notes, escalated their search measures by deploying a police drone to scan local swimming pools for uninvited swimmers of the scaly variety. Additionally, collaboration with a reptile specialist is underway to ensure proper treatment and a safe capture, should the lizard make another public appearance. In a detail highlighted in the report, anyone who happens upon the creature is instructed to immediately contact animal control or the local police—though one imagines this is not the kind of wildlife update most expect when scrolling neighborhood Facebook feeds.
The Case of the Stray Monitor: A Broader Pattern, or Massachusetts Just Being Massachusetts?
While UPI’s report covers the fundamentals of Webster’s guest of honor, another outlet, Yahoo! News, also referenced the story. However, information available from the Yahoo! link was limited to privacy and cookie policy prompts, offering little detail beyond the lizard’s existence on the run. Even so, the mere presence of multiple outlets picking up the tale suggests the universal appeal—perhaps mild alarm—of a “giant lizard loose in a New England town.”
For those following the ongoing chronicles of local oddity, this episode joins a veritable parade of strange happenings. UPI’s own Odd News archives recently featured tales of bears halting golf tournaments in Japan, paramedics rescuing raccoons from soup cans in Arkansas, and a Massachusetts man doubling up on million-dollar Powerball wins entirely by accident. A lizard on the lam, by comparison, seems almost quaint—albeit a more animated addition to the state’s catalog of the bizarre.
Reflections on Reptilian Wanderlust
The full story of how an Asian water monitor ended up vacationing in Webster is, at least for now, unwritten. Court records or local ordinances cited in other contexts confirm that these lizards are firmly off the “approved pets” list, leaving questions about its origin as tantalizing as its current whereabouts.
As noted by officials and recounted in multiple reports, there’s no imminent cause for panic. The lizard’s ambitions appear to lie firmly in the “sightseer” category—perhaps aiming for a swim, a tree to climb, or simply a brief taste of New England’s humid July before animal control brings things to a quiet close. Still, one can’t help but wonder about the unspoken moments: The neighbor who squints at a rustling bush, the dog who suddenly seems far too interested in the fence line, or the town’s collective pause as a police drone dips low over a backyard pool.
It leaves the question gently hanging—how many other residents are quietly rooting for the lizard’s safe capture, and how many are secretly hoping for a glimpse of something so wildly out of place it almost feels normal? Maybe next year’s Webster Days parade will have a new mascot inspiration; stranger things have slipped past local bylaws.
Either way, the loose lizard of Webster becomes an instant entry into the annals of minor Massachusetts legend: neither dangerous nor malicious, just enthusiastically out of context—a perfect postcard from the weirder side of everyday life.
