A Umatilla man will have to answer in court for allowing his exotic pet lizard to frequently escape his enclosure.
EJ, a Black Throat Monitor lizard, lives in and frequently escapes from an enclosure behind the home of 21-year-old Edward John Primeau on Cassady Street in Umatilla, according to a resource citation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Although a license is not required to possess the 3.5- to 4-foot-long reptile, the reptile is not legally allowed to be able to escape his enclosure.
However, on the afternoon of Friday, April 10, a neighbor discovered he had done just that when he spotted EJ in a tree behind his house. The neighbor was able to catch EJ in a raccoon trap as he climbed back down the tree just before two officers with the FWC arrived to investigate his getaway, the citation said.
The officers learned EJ had escaped from his cage behind a tall metal shed in Primeau’s backyard numerous times over the past few months. Primeau’s house and the neighbor’s property share a common boundary, so the officers walked over. They spoke with Primeau’s father, who advised that his son was not home at the time but would be by 5 p.m., the citation said.
In the meantime, the officers inspected EJ’s enclosure to find his escape route. It was a 10’x10’x10’ structure made of 2”x10” boards from the ground to about 4 feet high. A 14-gauge field fence extended from the top of the boards upward to the roof, the citation said.
The roof was half field fence and half 1-inch plywood boards for shade. The entire enclosure was framed with 4×4 wood posts. The floor was made with sheets of 1-inch plywood to prevent digging, the citation said.
There were two areas noted where EJ could have escaped from. One was on the left side corner, where a 2-foot portion of the fence was not nailed to the 4×4 post, leaving a gap. The other was on the roof in the back right corner, where a gap was not nailed down to the top frame or the 4×4 post, the citation said.
Primeau later agreed to correct those issues immediately. EJ was returned to him to be secured in an escape-proof enclosure until repairs could be made to the outdoor one. He was also given a citation for allowing EJ to escape and is expected in court on May 9.