There's a Lizard in the Fireplace

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

So I'm talking on the phone and look over and there, hanging on the inside of my fireplace screen, is a foot-long alligator lizard.

Mr. SDSG tried to catch it, but predictably, it crawled farther up into the fireplace.

Now, the damper is closed tight so it can't just keep climbing and get out the chimney. And since it was crawling around in the damper mechanism, I'm afraid I'll squish it if I open the damper.

Any ideas on how to lure the lizard out? I don't want to kill it, just catch it and release it outside. I'm just not big on reptiles running around the house.

[yermom]

release a bunch of mice in the house

lizards love mice

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

I can see it. It's just hanging out up there.

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

release a bunch of mice in the house

lizards love mice

This lizard at its fattest it about 3/4 an inch in diameter.

I don't think it could grab a mouse.

[etouffee]

smoke him out!

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

smoke him out!

I can't--the damper is closed and if I open it I squish him and if I light a fire the house will fill up with smoke.

Not to mention if I caught his tail in the damper it would break off and do neither one of us any good.

[85Sooner]

I can't--the damper is closed and if I open it I squish him and if I light a fire the house will fill up with smoke.

Not to mention if I caught his tail in the damper it would break off and do neither one of us any good.


Just barely open it. then SMOKE HIM OUT. let darwinism work itself out.

[Newbomb Turk]

We had a raccoon in our fireplace once - above the damper. I didn't know how the heck to get him outa there. We made a few calls, and someone suggested putting a rope down the chimney with knots tied in it. They said the little guy would probably wait till night and climb out. Sure enough, he was gone the next morning.

[dolemitesooner]

shoot him with a gun

[Tailwind]

"The Lizard in the Fireplace"....sounds like a good title for a mystery novel. :D

[proud gonzo]

if he can crawl further up the fireplace, can't he crawl out? :confused: just leave him alone.

[85Sooner]

IF HE GOT IN, HE CAN GET OUT. oops sorry

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

if he can crawl further up the fireplace, can't he crawl out? :confused: just leave him alone.

No, because the damper is closed tight. And I'm afraid I'll squish him if I open it.

He's just hanging out in this ventlike metal thing that is at the top of the fireplace opening. Since the chimney opening is unusually far back in our fireplace, I'm afraid trying to smoke him out will smoke us out instead. To get to where he is, the smoke would come more into the house than up the chimney.

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

IF HE GOT IN, HE CAN GET OUT. oops sorry

Not necessarily. This is the 4th lizard we've had in the house. Judging by the poops we found, two had been living in our guest room (that we rarely go into) for quite a while. Then suddenly we realized that the spider population in the house had decreased quite a bit.

I don't know how they are getting in, but I suspect they squeeze under the screen door. Then they can't figure out how to get back out.

They're reptiles, not professors.

[85Sooner]

Not necessarily. This is the 4th lizard we've had in the house. Judging by the poops we found, two had been living in our guest room (that we rarely go into) for quite a while. Then suddenly we realized that the spider population in the house had decreased quite a bit.

I don't know how they are getting in, but I suspect they squeeze under the screen door. Then they can't figure out how to get back out.

They're reptiles, not professors.


I din't say he might not want to leave.:D

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

I din't say he might not want to leave.:D

It's kind of cute, really. Judging by how skinny it is I think it must be a juvenile.

I just don't want to plop down on the toilet and look down and see ... AAAGGHH!! (Which ALMOST happened last time.)

[proud gonzo]

unless he's poisonous I wouldn't have a problem with that. In fact, I've thought about getting a gecko or something and turning it loose in my house to catch buggies.

[slickdawg]

It's kind of cute, really. Judging by how skinny it is I think it must be a juvenile.

I just don't want to plop down on the toilet and look down and see ... AAAGGHH!! (Which ALMOST happened last time.)


Please, elaborate! :)

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Mr. SDSG emailed me at work that he'd found a lizard in the kitchen. When I got home he mentioned wondering what had made a weird poop that he'd seen in the bathroom. What poop? I asked. So we went in the bathroom to look at the poop and there was ANOTHER lizard in the bathroom, right next to the toilet, where I might not have noticed it before plopping down in my usual just-got-home from work fashion. Then if I had looked down to see a foot-long lizard there...it definitely would have been AAAAAGHH!

And those two were much fatter than this skinny guy.

Edited to add: actually it probably would have been a high-pitched EEEEEEEEEEEEEE instead of AAAAAGH.

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

The lizard's gone!

Mr. SDSG gave it a nudge with a pen so that when it tried to run away it fell into a waiting shoebox.

Then we took it outside and let it go.

Man, those things can move FAST!!!

Now that I've spent half the day on Lizard Watch...:rolleyes:

[yermom]

unless he's poisonous I wouldn't have a problem with that. In fact, I've thought about getting a gecko or something and turning it loose in my house to catch buggies.

a former roomate had this idea once :rolleyes:

i was finding lizard carcasses in rooms of the house we don't use much...

it seems to work for OU though

my mouse idea was largely a joke... i'm thinking the lizard is less of a problem than a bunch of mice...

i'd probably get a broom or something and gently coerce him to come down and catch him in a box or something

my mom has a cat that liked to bring prey in the house still kicking... i was always the one catching birds, mice, snakes and lizards and escorting them outside

[Jimminy Crimson]

Get a fire extinguisher and let it off in the chimney. The lizard might not come out, but it'd be funny to watch you do that. ;)

[StoopTroup]

Leave it alone and it will probably just come get you up during the night to have you let it out. :D
http://www.grizzlyrun.com/Files/Images/Other/long_tailed_lizard_on_bed.jpg

[SanDiegoSoonerGal]

Where'd you get that picture? That's pretty much what it looked like! Except not QUITE that long.

[Jimminy Crimson]

Where'd you get that picture? That's pretty much what it looked like! Except not QUITE that long.

....YET! ;)

[GDC]

We had a big blackbird in the fireplace the other night. Got it out, but as soon as we released it a huge owl swooped down, knocked it to the ground, and picked it up and carried it off, screaming.

[pb4ou]

heh