Watch: Colourful chameleon roams around in California, gets rescued in viral video

People in a neighbourhood in Carlsbad, California, were surprised to see a colourful chameleon recently. Realising that the species was not native to their area, they called a snake expert to remove the lizard. A video that shows the expert, Bruce Ireland, approach the chameleon has gone viral on social media. The incident, which occurred on 11 October in the US, saw Ireland being called to relocate “a strange lizard”. The wildlife expert reached the location, only to realise that the lizard was actually a panther chameleon, which is popular as an exotic pet due to its dazzling colours. According to Ireland, the chameleon, which looks “more like a bag of skittles candy than a reptile”, was native to Madagascar only, making it likely that the lizard was someone’s escaped pet. In the 20-second video clip shared by ViralHog, the rescuer is seen approaching the green-and-red chameleon that was located inside a transparent tray. As Ireland reaches out to the lizard, the chameleon crawls up his arm and disappears behind the camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPmFNtEid7s The video has gone viral, receiving over 97,000 views till date. Many viewers were stunned at the bright colours of the reptile and wanted a pet like it. Others commented that they hoped the owner of the chameleon was found quickly. According to Ireland, the rescuer was initially apprehensive while approaching the creature, as he was unsure if the lizard was harmless. Later, as the rescuer put his hand near the chameleon, the lizard climbed up his arm and perched over his hat. The rescuer added that efforts were on to trace the owner of the chameleon, whom he has named “Max”. If no one comes and claims the lizard, the rescuer plans to be his new family. This is not the only video with reptiles that has gone viral on the Internet in the last few days. Recently, the video of a snake slithering on overhead wires in the Philippines went viral on social media. The video shows the several foot-long snake moving on the hanging wires, while a crowd stares in shock at it. As the reptile falls, the crowd panics and rushes to rescue it. The snake was later released into its natural habitat by the locals.