It was a huge vivarium that took up most of the inside wall of the lounge being of a type that could accommodate quite a large scaly animal.
As well as the sheer size of the thing it was also a glaring source of light and on entering the room I had felt the dry, arid heat that was reminiscent of a Greek holiday.
The human occupant of the house shrugged his shoulders to my question and said that yes the Bearded Dragon was out and about somewhere in the house. His casualness hinted that the reptile was a very regular wanderer.
I do not have much knowledge of that species of lizard but my perception is clouded by deep rooted images in my hyper active imagination of dinosaurs, voracious creatures kept by various Bond Villains and wildlife programmes where the naturalist creeps about in the undergrowth talking in hushed tones so as not to frighten or arouse almost mythological monsters.
Looking at the dimensions of the vivarium I estimated that its normal resident could only really be about half a metre long based on a need to be able to move, turn and comfortably sleep in that space.
Unfortunately such a compact creature could also wick itself away anywhere in the house quite easily.
I had a strong feeling of anxiety about the prospect of coming across the creature in the course of my inspection of the house or even unwittingly giving it an escape route to the wide outdoors if it followed me into the garden.
In recent years I have had to pursue a dog across a village after the owner insisted that I re-capture it after having left the side gate open. Chasing a dog was difficult indeed but it would be a picnic compared to the hunt for a wily lizard readily adapting to its natural environment.
I skirted around the living room as my starting point.
The gap between the carpet and the underside of the settee was, I felt, too small to allow it as a hiding place although if it is said that a mouse can get through a hole just the size of a pencil then it might be possible for a flexible reptile to snuck itself away under the sofa webbing.
My job involves a look into the dark recesses of the understairs cupboard and |I carefully directed the beam of my torch over the stored items. There was no sign of any movement but then again lizards are very adept at being perfectly inanimate for long periods.
The kitchen units were firmly closed and I was not really required to open them which was a relief.
I made my way upstairs into a whole range of potential reptile retreats under beds, furniture legs and behind personal belongings. I made a point of making more noise than usual as I made my way around the rooms whilst taking a bit of a sideways walking stance just in case the animal made a run for the landing and stairwell beyond.
A thought then crossed my mind that surely reptiles were also natural climbers. This introduced the possibility of it perching on top of a wardrobe or a window pelmet and I had a horrible premonition of being jumped on by sharpened claws and being licked by a leathery tongue.
At least there was no chance of it being up in the loft as I had to take down the folding ladder to get into it.
I was still on guard as in previous years a domestic cat had followed me up into the roof space and it had taken a long time and a handful of crunchy feline snacks to coax it down again.
I was close to finishing my work and told the homeowner that I had not come across the actual , or any Bearded Dragons.
He was not surprised as it appears that the lizard only really has one favourite spot beyond the confines of its glazed tank and that is on top of the Sky Digital Box in the letter box type slot of the TV storage unit in the corner of the lounge.
I crouched down to peek into that hiding place and I am convinced that the inscrutable eyes blinked or rather winked at me for my troubles.
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