‘Miracle’ Peninsula Chameleon Reunited With Owner

DALY CITY, CA — A chameleon rescued from a Peninsula power wire earlier this week is home safe.

Meraxes, the 1½-year-old exotic lizard named after a “Game of Thrones” character, was reunited with his owner Geneva Buerer Friday, a day after news broke across the Bay Area that Peninsula Humane Society workers pulled him to safety from a power wire earlier this week.

Meraxes had been missing since June, Buerer told Patch.

The Daly City resident who breeds chameleons in greenhouse in her backyard had searched exhaustively for the missing animal, posting signs in her neighborhood.

Meraxes was found a few doors down from her Peninsula home.

“Honestly, I didn’t think we were going to get him back,” she said. “It was just the answer to prayers. It felt like a miracle.”

Buerer had given up hope of seeing Meraxes until Thursday, when a neighbor hollered at her from her backyard telling her that he’d been found and to “call the Humane Society before somebody else gets him.”

Buerer said her husband who recently joined the army was saddened when the lizard went missing.

“He hasn’t gotten the news yet because I can’t communicate with him yet but it’s going to be a great surprise,” Buerer said.

A neighbor who spotted Meraxes straddling a power wire called the PHS Wednesday, which led to the lizard’s rescue and eventual reunification PHS Communications Manager Buffy Martin Tarbox said.

"According to the neighbor, the poor lizard had been stranded on the wire for three days," Tarbox said.

"Our rescue staff was able to safely remove the animal from the power line, and the chameleon is now resting comfortably at our shelter."

That the lizard was able to last as long as he did thousands of miles from his native habitat in Africa was a surprise.

“It’s truly a miracle that he survived this long,” Tarbox said.