Public warned not to make friends with giant escaped lizard

Residents of Teller County, Colorado, USA, are being urged by authorities to keep away from a pet that ran away from home on Monday afternoon. This is a fair request, and one likely to be obeyed, given that the pet in question is a six-foot long Nile monitor lizard (like the one pictured above) weighing 25 pounds and owning a disease-infested mouth attached to a jaw capable of chewing through its leash - or somebody's leg.

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