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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam Buckler

Man hears 'splashing' from bathroom and finds iguana lurking in his toilet bowl

A man who heard "splashing" coming from his bathroom was horrified to find an iguana in his toilet bowl.

John Riddle, 58, was at his home in Hollywood, Florida, US, on Friday when a scary looking lizard had found its way into his home.

He went to investigate the noise and saw a distress-looking reptile looking back at him.

Mr Riddle said: "I just heard this splashing. I look down, and I see this frightened-looking reptile looking back at me.”

He attempted to use a pool net to fish the distressed iguana out from the toilet bowl - but it failed to capture the reptile.

Instead, he thought, it was better using his hands to try and remove the animal by it tail from the toilet.

John had the shock of his life when he opened up his toilet (WSVN)

He eventually plucked up the courage to try and grab him.

“During that process, when I worked up enough nerve to try to grab him, he went all the way into the toilet, into the pipe, I couldn’t see any of him,” he said.

He also set-up a baby gate so the iguana wouldn't escape his bedroom or hide in the rest of house while on the phone to call lizard removal experts.

The iguana was found lurking in his toilet bowl (WSVN)

However, when Mr Riddle went back to the bathroom, he was stunned to find the animal had crawled out the toilet bowl on its own.

The animal, who was now behind the toilet tank, was then ushered out by a pool net and went outside and into the pool before scampering off.

Mr Riddle, who has lived in Hollywood, Florida, for over 30 years, has seen his fair share of iguana's over the years but never in a bathroom.

He revealed: “I’m used to them, but I’m just not used to them in my toilet bowl."

The 58-year-old is not a huge fan of the reptiles, however, he does fear using his toilet again despite the unexpected surprise.

The reptile then escaped into his pool (WSVN)

“I’ve been in this particular house for 21+ years, and like I said, it never happened before,” he said. “I figure now that it’s happened to me, the odds are probably really good that it won’t happen hopefully for not at least another 21 years or so.”

Blake Wilkins, the co-owner of Redline Iguana Removal, revealed as the reptile's mating season, which runs from December to February, is over and with increased temperatures, lizards are likely to appear in strange places.

It then went behind the toilet tank (WSVN)

He said they are often found crawling up and down trees, sunbathing on roofs and even going into toilet's due to slipping through bathroom vents.

Homeowners are being urged to seal the pipers to help stop the iguanas from sneaking into homes as during this time of the year their activity increases.

Mr Wilkins added: "This is the time of year that their activity explodes.”

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