Kathy Massey had an unusual encounter on June 4, capturing a “tegu” dragon along Route 6 just over the Marion line.
“This is a first for me. This thing is wild – wild. I can’t get over the head,” said Massey, who has been Mattapoisett’s Animal Control Officer the past 23 years with 30 years total experience.
She has seen plenty over three decades but ranked this adventure among the wildest.
“That’s my first time picking one of these suckers up… oh my God,” said Massey. “This is one of the top – especially the guy that called 911, said it was a Komodo dragon. That (would have been) bad, they eat everything… They are huge, but when they bite something they disburse this very slow venom into it. They sit around and wait. This thing is unbelievable, though, prehistoric like a dinosaur.”
Late on Thursday morning, a motorcyclist spotted the animal while riding along Route 6 and made a 9-1-1 emergency call that a Komodo dragon was on the loose. Turns out it was a tegu dragon, and by noon the tegu dragon was being treated for a wound and hydrating in a tub of water at Mattapoisett Animal Hospital.
Once the animal was in safe custody, Massey did some reading and quickly learned that the dragons hibernate and wondered aloud, “Who knows how long this thing has been around?”
It took 15 minutes to secure the animal, which had made it across town line into Marion, where Massey put her lead around its neck. The dragon “got a little squirmy so I put its legs through” so that the loop was around the animal’s midsection. Meanwhile, Massey explained that the Marion animal control officer held the net so that the tegu dragon would step into it.
Massey didn’t know the dragon was not a Komodo but a tegu until she had delivered it to Mattapoisett Animal Hospital for its evaluation and spa treatment. After having a wound treated, the dragon spent its afternoon soaking. The plan was to transport the animal to an undisclosed location so it can be nursed back to health. “Not my house!” specified Massey, who keeps chickens.
Native to Central and South America, no one knew on the day the tegu dragon was captured how long it had been in the wild. The possibility that it was released by a private owner was not dismissed. As of Monday, the animal had not been claimed.
“We have a tendency to be the cruelest species out there,” said Massey.
Exotic and sometimes inappropriate pet keeping has inched its way into society, as the hit TV show “Tiger King” and several other programs have recently illustrated.
“We had an iguana one time that used to get loose every two years when it was in heat. Somebody said they had a dinosaur in their bushes. As far as that kind of stuff, not often (do we see it), but I’m thinking somebody else is going to be missing this thing,” said Massey, noting that tegu dragons do not require a registration. “They’re not illegal; you can have them. The only problem – I personally wouldn’t have anything like that because their mouths are filthy, and if they bite you you’re going to get a heck of an infection.”
Still, capturing and holding a tegu dragon in her arms was exciting enough. Massey last felt this far out of her comfort zone about 15 years ago when she captured a rabid otter. “Nowhere near water,” she said of the animal that was sent to Connecticut where it tested positive, leaving a lingering caution to the public.
“Any mammal can get rabies,” said Massey, “any mammal. The only one that’s not top of the list (for rabies) is a possum.”
By Mick Colageo
