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Wise Claw the dragon is home with his family

After our story on social media, friends alerted the lizard’s anxious family that he has been found
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Reunited with his family, Wise Claw heads home Wednesday night. (Submitted)

Wise Claw – the bearded dragon lizard – has been reunited with his family in Glenora.

After the excitement of learning about his discovery reached Facebook by way of the Citizen story on Wednesday, social media got busy.

Conservation officer Sgt. Scott Norris, who had reported that the friendly gold-coloured lizard had been found on a Valley logging road, was able to return Wise Claw to his family.

Norris had originally received a call Monday from a Cowichan Valley logging contractor, saying they’d found a bearded dragon lizard.

Driving along a logging road, “he saw it on the side of the road there sunning itself. He stopped, and phoned us. He was able to pick it up, it was pretty tame.”

“So, I went out and met him and picked it up from him. It appears as through it’s an unwanted pet that someone has abandoned,” Norris said Wednesday afternoon.

That proved happily to not be the case at all. The conservation officer said the story would have no happy ending if the Valley had been enduring a cold spell.

“He happened to be baking in the open sun and getting warm when they found him but, once the weather starts turning and getting cooler, he’s not going to survive because those guys are a desert species that need warm dry conditions.”

The lizard, a foot and a half long, stayed with Norris and his family while the search was on for an owner for the obviously gregarious lizard.

“I’m getting cornered into keeping him myself but if we can find a good loving home, that’s what we’d hope for. He’s very active. He’s very friendly. He likes human contact. Even the logging contractor said that when he got out of his truck, he came running over to him. He’s used to people.

“My son picks him up and he right away came to my son and crawled up onto my son’s shoulder. He’s a friendly little guy.”

Norris had better news late Wednesday, when Wise Claw’s family contacted his office.

Owner Tegan Mills posted on Facebook Wednesday that friends had passed along the story from the Citizen and then all efforts were aimed at reuniting the bearded dragon with his family in Glenora.

Norris was delighted to pass the lizard over to Mills.

“I was able to return it to her and her family yesterday. They live approximately a kilometre from the area where it was found and, as I was saying, it’s a very active bearded dragon and one day, about a month ago, it just made its way out the back door and disappeared into the bush and they couldn’t find it. They were thrilled to hear it was still alive and they were very happy to be reunited with it.”

The adventurous little rascal had just seen an opportunity to go walkabout and taken his chances.

“He’s very active,” said Norris. “When I had him he was climbing and wanting to go everywhere. Some people have them and they basically lie in their little solarium thing and don’t do much, but this guy? He’s a mover. He just wants to go.”