Watch: 4-foot lizard named Porkchop found after days on the loose in Minnesota

Ben Hooper
·1 min read
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Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A 4-foot lizard who escaped from his outdoor enclosure in Minnesota was safely returned home after being found near a cemetery several days later.

Cody Whitehead of Rochester said the black and white Argentine tegu lizard, Porkchop, escaped from his outdoor summer habitat on Friday.

Whitehead, who has owned the lizard for nine years, said a member of the community contacted him Wednesday to say the tegu had been spotted on a bike trail near Oakwood Cemetery.

Whitehead said Porkchop was returned home safe and sound. He said the person who found Porkchop declined the $300 he offered for the lizard's safe return.

He said the pet has been using the outdoor enclosure during the summer for the past two years and had never escaped before.

"Right now he's going to be inside until I can figure something out. I'm going to need to build something more secure," Whitehead told KIMT-TV. "I didn't think he would squeeze out because he had to squeeze out of a hole, so he had to flatten out and push. I'm gonna need to think of something new because I don't want to go through this again."