Chameleon Rescued From Georgia Tree Insists It Was Not Stuck, Was Simply Blending In

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — It is my duty to report that a chameleon was rescued from a tree here last week, and that the matter is now closed, at least as far as the fire department is concerned.

Firefighters from Station 14 of the Forsyth County Fire Department were called to bring the lizard down from a high branch, according to UPI. The department did not say how long the chameleon had been up there, how high the branch was, or how the crew got it down. Those of us who cover this county know better than to press the fire department on a Tuesday.

The department did issue a statement on social media, and I reproduce it here in full, as I would any official record: “This one was a new one for us. We’ve moved on from cats in trees. Now it’s CHAMELEONS we gotta watch out for.”

I want to be careful here. Nobody has confirmed that the chameleon was stuck. A chameleon in a tree is, by most accounts, a chameleon at work. Its entire job is to be in the tree, looking like the tree.

A source close to the lizard, speaking on condition that he not be asked to hold it, told the Dispatch that the animal had been blending in “at a very high level” and was surprised to be noticed at all.

“He was doing the green,” the source said. “He was doing the bark. He did a little bit of the sky. Then a ladder showed up.”

It is not known whether the chameleon has been reunited with its owner. UPI did not say, and I am not going to guess about a family’s private business.

What is known is that Station 14 now has a new category of call, and that cats in this county will have to work a little harder for attention.

The next county commission meeting is Thursday. There is nothing about lizards on the agenda. There is still nothing about the stop sign.

Marjorie’s recipe for the station: Ladder-Day Lemon Bars

1 cup butter, softened. 2 cups flour. Half a cup of powdered sugar. Press into a 9-by-13 pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Whisk 4 eggs, 1 and a half cups sugar, a quarter cup flour, and the juice of 2 lemons. Pour over the crust and bake 20 more minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Cut into 24 bars, which is enough for Station 14 and one for the chameleon, if he can be found.