University of Wisconsin staff find a bearded dragon sunning itself near Bascom Hall

Someone may have left a friend behind when they moved out of the University of Wisconsin dorms for the summer. 

Staff encountered a foot-long bearded dragon basking in the sun on a rock near Bascom Hall. It drew a little crowd because, you know, it's not every day you see a lizard in Wisconsin. This little guy did not wander here from its native Australia, although the lizard has become a popular exotic pet in recent decades. (They can actually be trained to walk on a leash.)

It's not certain if the lizard was a student's dorm pet. Maybe its humans were going through a rough patch and this guy just wanted to get away for a minute. After the long winter we just had, can anyone blame him for breaking out of an office terrarium?

Steve Wagner, director of communications for the Division of Facilities Planning and Management at UW, said that students leave behind a lot of stuff when they move out, though usually not foot-long lizards.

The bearded dragon is being looked after by the university's wildlife control person, Richard Ness.

"He's caring for the bearded dragon in the short term, until someone comes forward," Wagner said. "We've talked to other animal people on campus, and he's doing everything he can to take care of it."

Terry Devitt, assistant director of research communications, was the third person to see the lizard. He said a couple people had clustered around the rock, so he went over to investigate.

"There was a very handsome lizard of some kind sunning himself on the rock," he said. "We wanted to see if someone could come pick up the bearded dragon just to make sure it was safe because it was obviously not native. I turned to our pest control people. They frequently catch animals and return them."

So far no one has claimed the bearded dragon.