FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN/CNN/CNN Newsource/WRKC) – A man in Florida was shocked to discover a hissing iguana in his toilet bowl.
Although it might sound like the stuff of nightmare for some, John Riddle has the pictures to prove his experience was all too real.
“I thought I was in ‘Jurassic Park’ or something,” Riddle told reporters.
For the 58-year-old Florida resident, an unremarkable trip to the bathroom turned into quite the terrifying spectacle.
He was splashing and hissing at me,” Riddle said. “I was scared, I’m not a reptile fan. The iguana was right here.
It happened Friday in his Hollywood home in Florida. He noticed the bathroom door off his pool deck was still open. When he went to close it, he discovered the iguana in his toilet.
“That’s when it turned around and opened its mouth, and that’s all I needed to see to, like, back off for a minute and figure out what was going on,” Riddle said.
He said the iguana then went deeper into the toilet and while trying his best to stay calm and figure out what to do next, he grabbed a nearby baby gate to keep it from sneaking out and getting into his bedroom.
“I came back probably a little bit less than an hour later, and there he was again, splashing around. ‘Alright, this is my chance’ and, I gave him, I was trying to work up the nerve to grab him and throw him out. But before I did that, he crawled out and crawled, like, behind the toilet, and that’s when I grabbed the strainer and shooed him out,” Riddle recalled.
It then dove into his pool and eventually ran into the backyard. John believes the iguana got in when he left the door open while walking his dogs. It is a lesson he said he has definitely learned.
“It’s a story to tell for sure. Hopefully we can avoid any instances in the future,” Riddle said.
Riddle said the iguana was not hurt, and he hopes to never see it again. Iguanas are not native to Florida, but years ago, someone released their pet lizard, and now hundreds of the scaly reptiles are thriving in the Sunshine State’s warm climate.
