Monitor lizard rescued after getting stuck on top of electricity post

A hapless monitor lizard was rescued after getting stuck on top of an electricity post in Thailand.

The reptile was searching for food in the neighbourhood when it was chased by guard dogs in Chachoengsao province on April 27.

To escape the angry animals, it retreated into the corner of the street and began climbing onto the top of the electric pole.

A nearby house owner checked on her noisy dogs outside as they continued to bark loudly at the lizard until she saw the terrified animal and called the rescue team for help.

Phikul Eua-pom, 57, said the reptile was trying to enter her house but the dogs refused to let it in and ran after it outside.

She said: ‘It entered my yard and was looking for food.

I was afraid that it could be electrocuted and cause a power outage so I called the rescuers for help.’ The team brought a crane so they could reach the animal on top of the 20ft-high pole.

A volunteer flashed a torch on the lizard to scare it away while another team member lightly poked it with a long pole while on top of the crane.

After almost half an hour they were able to make the reptile descend the pole and it crawled down to the ground.

Another monitor lizard was spotted in the area but the locals chased it away in case the the two reptiles bagn fighting.

The rescue team took the 4ft-long monitor lizard into a nearby forest for release.

It was uninjured and was given food and water being being let out.

Earlier this month a monitor lizard sparked panic in the city of Nakhon Pathom around 500 miles away when it wandered into a supermarket and climbed on the shelves.

The creature spent an hour in the store searching for food before being chased away by the emergency services.

Asian water monitor lizards have a Godzilla-like dinosaur appearance and are often mistaken for Komodo dragons.

They live in canals and ponds in large cities in Thailand where they feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

They are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite which sometimes carries harmful bacteria.