Alligator lizard found in Christmas tree in Hawaii

This video is about a southern alligator lizard.

From KGMB9 News in Hawaii:

Alligator Lizard Found in X-mas Tree

December 1, 2007

Fourteen-inches long and still alive, imagine the shock for a family when they brought home their new Christmas tree from the store and a big lizard walked out. It’s called a southern alligator lizard and it is illegal in Hawaii. It was found by a Kalihi woman who had bought her tree at the Don Quixote in Pearl City.

Seven inches head to okole and then another seven inches of tail. Lizards like this are common up and down the mainland west coast. But in Hawaii they’re not permitted anywhere but the zoo.

“It could be a problem for our native birds for example because of its feeding habits, feeding on invertebrates, things like other insects, orthopods that maybe our native birds require as a food source,” said Domingo Cravalho from the Dept. of Agriculture.