Man Thinks He Can Hear Tire Deflating, Then He Looks Closer at the Truck
He thought he had a flat tire. Then a chilling hiss from beneath his truck revealed something far more alarming.
Mike Scarborough, a U.S. businessman, experienced an unusual event during a trip to South Africa. While returning to his truck from an excursion in the bush, Scarborough heard a hissing sound coming from a wheel well. At first, he thought the noise was coming from a punctured tire, but upon closer inspection, he realized the sound was coming from a large reptile inside the wheel well.
Scarborough was initially frightened by the sight of the reptile, describing it as a "quick panic." He did not initially know what species of reptile he was dealing with, only that it was a giant lizard. The reptile, later identified as a monitor lizard, climbed into the wheel well while the truck was parked in the bush.
Monitor lizards, native to South Africa, are the largest lizards in Africa and are generally nonvenomous, though they may bite or lash out with their tails if threatened. Dr. Chad Keates, a South African herpetologist, stated that both the Nile monitor and the rock monitor species are largely harmless to humans. However, injuries can occur when humans attempt to catch or handle the lizards.
Despite the initial shock, Scarborough and his team were eventually able to remove the monitor lizard from the wheel well. The entire encounter was captured on camera and shared on social media under Scarborough's handle, @mike.scar. While the incident was alarming, Scarborough escaped unharmed and is likely to think twice before investigating potential flat tires in the future.
Written by urgent.news from Newsweek's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
