Hiding in the bathroom

Looking back over 14 years of running a rescue, there are some moments that just stand out in my mind. Here is one of them...
Sometimes, there just isn’t enough room for all of the animals in the rooms that I have in the two bedrooms I set up for them. In those cases, I had something I called overflow areas. Part of my office and some places in the dining room were used when I was in a pinch. Of course, there are always stray cages, aquariums, stands, lights, heat mats, etc. available. They are tucked away in just about every nook and cranny in the house.

On this day, I had a wire dog cage set up in my office. It was a bit larger than the size of a ferret cage. I believe they are usually 4 ft. x 3 ft. x 2 ft.  The wire on this dog cage was much thicker and the bars were further apart. I had the cage all shored up by using cable ties. Cable ties are a fantastic was to secure a wobbly metal cage and make it feel much more sturdy. Since they are cheap, it is easty to just cut them off when it’s time to fold up the cage and put it away, and then use a new set next time it needs to be used for another rescue. Those cages are handy because they fold up fairly flat and don’t take a lot of space unless they are in use.
A fairly decent sized Nile monitor was living in the cage at the time. My cousin Gail came over and we went to the state fair, which is held at the same place where the reptile show used to be. Gail tolerates the reptiles, but is not a huge fan. She doesn’t know how to deal with them and doesn’t really want to know. That’s fine. To each his own.

After enjoying ourselves at the fair, we came back to my house. Walking in the door, the office is to the left. We walked into the den, which is to the right. Gail said, “Look what the dog did to the blinds.”

A chill ran down my spine. I looked at the blinds. “The dog didn’t do that. The Nile must be loose!”

And with that, Gail dashed into the powder room and slammed the door shut. Hoping the Nile wasn’t hiding behind the toilet, I started looking around.

“I’ll be in here until you find him!” she shouted.

He wasn’t behind the couch where the blinds had been broken. I did a quick 360 of the room. Nothing seemed out of place other than the blinds. A 4 ft. lizard generally leaves a path of destruction. I put the dog outside. He seemed fine. I guessed the Nile didn’t mess with him at all. He probably slept upstairs and missed all of the fun. He would have run from the lizard anyway.

Back to my scan of the room. Since nothing was out of place, I started looking behind things. After the couch, I checked the chair. And there he was, squished up against the corner of the room. His dusty head, with eyes glaring at me, turned in my direction.

Nile monitor on the loose.

“Gimme a break.” I said as I scooped him up, wiped off the dust and stuck him back in the, now useless cage. Monitor lizards are a lot smarter than people give them credit. They are problem solvers. If he got out of that cage once, he’d do it again and a lot faster this time. I figured out another cage for him and Gail decided to emerge from the bathroom. We had a good laugh. It was especially funny watching how fast Gail could get in the bathroom and slam the door!