# OK, so there's a lizard under my sofa. What now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298 "2004-04-21T22:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/21 "2004-04-22T14:55:00Z")
We get anoles in our house all the time. One once dropped into our then-four-year-old son’s bath; I never saw a kid more delighted and scared. The best way I’ve found to get them outside is to use a magazine or sheet of paper. Either gently push them onto the paper or corner them and shove the paper under them. Once they’re on the paper, carry it outside and drop them off. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/22 "2004-04-22T15:02:50Z")
Got a cat? You won’t have the lizard for very long. _Pounce…chomp…gulp…yum yum!_ ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/23 "2004-04-22T15:06:55Z")
A minnow trap will also trap a lizard, if you really want to get rid of it. I doubt that the minnow trap will catch the lizard’s mother, so be careful. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/24 "2004-04-23T03:16:30Z")
Can I have a lizard, too? Pleaaaaaassssssse? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/25 "2004-04-23T03:32:45Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > GET POKER > > I don’t know what an apologise is. > The lizard’s mother bites your bottom off. > The lizard’s mother bites your shins off. > The lizard’s mother bites your shoulders off. > You are dead. There may be a moral to this story. > Play again? Y/N Very Nice! I think I still have a copy of this archived somewhere… I wonder if it will run under XP. Time to do some hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/26 "2004-04-23T04:21:49Z")
If it is in fact an anole, just ignore it. It’ll find a way out. If you’re still tripping over him a week later, just chase him down, catch him, and heave him outside into a bush. My property is infested with the little buggers; I must have found a thousand tiny little eggshells when I changed the insulation in the shed roof a few summers ago. The cats catch 'em and play with 'em all the time. Drives my wife crazy. But they do eat bugs, so we let 'em be. Although I am often required to rescue the wife from them. Or rescue one from a cat. Keeps my life interesting, and less than sedentary… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/27 "2004-04-23T05:06:55Z")
**Ross** , you’re saying the lizard’s name is Grendel? 😉 Anoles _do_ bite. They chomp and don’t let go, enabling you to wear them like jewelry. For a while, anyway. And, anole tails are removable. Anoles drop their tails when threatened, and the tails do their duty by twitching for a while. If you try to pick an anole up by its tail, don’t be shocked if you end up with _just_ a tail. Cats eat anoles up just fine. If you or your neighbor has a cat you can put inside the house, you’ll soon be anole-free. But anoles eat bugs of all kinds, so you might want to belay that hunting party. I used to raise anoles when I lived in Missouri. Just two in a terrarium, with water, crickets, and mealyworms. I loved watching them eat. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298/28 "2004-04-23T05:09:41Z")
Oh, and if it’s not obvious, anole bites don’t hurt or draw blood. They don’t have fangs. They simply pinch, and don’t even bruise. (Yes, I had them hanging from my nose on many an occasion.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-so-theres-a-lizard-under-my-sofa-what-now/241298.md?page=1)