HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA — When John Riddle went to the bathroom in his Hollywood home on Friday, he met an invasive reptile that freaked him out.
“I thought I was in ‘Jurassic Park’ or something,” Riddle told WSVN.
An invasive iguana slipped through an open door off his pool deck and jumped into the toilet. When Riddle went to close the door and use the bathroom, he came face to face with the intruder.
“He was splashing and hissing at me,” Riddle said. “I was scared. I’m not a reptile fan.”
“That’s when it turned around and opened its mouth, and that’s all I needed to see – like, back off for a minute so I can figure out what’s going on,” he said.
Riddle said he tried to remain calm, but the iguana went deeper into the toilet. So he grabbed a baby gate to block the doorway into his bedroom.
“I came back probably a little less than an hour later, and there he was again, splashing around,” Riddle said. “This was my chance, and I was trying to work up the nerve to grab him and throw him out, but before I did that, he crawled out, and crawled, like, behind the toilet.”
Riddle said he grabbed a pot strainer and shooed the iguana out the door, where it dove into his pool and eventually ran out into the backyard. Riddle says he probably left the door open when he took his dog for a walk – a lesson he has now learned.
“It’s a story to tell, for sure. Hopefully, we can avoid any instances in the future,” Riddle said.
