Reptile rescued from storm drain on Loop 101 in north Phoenix
PHOENIX - If you were driving along Loop 101 in north Phoenix on Wednesday morning, you may have witnessed an unusual scene.
A reptile was spotted on the shoulder of the freeway near 7th Street on July 10.
The Arizona Department of Transportation says its crews, along with members of the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary, rescued the reptile after it crawled into a storm drain.
Trying to trap him was no walk in the park.
How do you wrangle a four-foot long monitor lizard? Very carefully, of course.
Try grabbing the tail, but don’t bite off more than you can chew.
"At that point, it looked like it was chaotic. And it was, but I had it. I had to get it down on the ground. Alex then went ahead and put some pressure on the back of the neck," explained Casey Brose with the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary.
Alex Roszkowski and Brose got the call around 6 a.m.
DPS needs help trapping a big venomous reptile down a storm drain during rush hour traffic. Sure, no problem.
"So, for PHS, out of the norm. For us, this is our first rodeo on the highway," Brose said.
Roszkowski says, "Rescuing reptiles every day, we do that, but on the highway, that’s a first."
The lizard apparently pushed its way through a chicken-wire gate while his owners were away. Then he went from 16th Street and Union Hills Drive.
Probably past a park, over a mountain, and through a neighborhood, before bumping into the highway.
There are a few mementos from his two-week outing. Like a video captured by a hiker.
Now, we got to meet Archie, the monitor lizard, while he was reunited with his owner Seth.
"It just grew into a passion of learning as much as I can about them and then owning the coolest ones and the biggest ones and the smartest ones and that’s just kind of how my interest adapted," he said.
Seth isn’t sure how this cold-blooded African reptile turned pet survived in the desert for two hot weeks. So far, Archie isn’t telling any tales.
"I mean, it was a shock initially, and I was seeing my lizard on the news. The second I heard that the Herpetological Sanctuary was on the case, I knew he was in good hands," Seth said.
Seth says Archie will get a warm dinner and a cool bath. He'll also repair the door so that Archie can’t escape again.