(UPI) Animal rescuers in Britain said a green anole lizard stowed away in a traveler's luggage for a 4,500-mile journey from Florida to England.

Rachel Bond, 54, said she had just unpacked her suitcase at her family's home in Whitley Bay after her recent trip to Orlando when her mother, Margaret Crossland, 84, alerted her to an intruder in the home.

"I had started to unpack my things then I came downstairs and my mum shouted to me 'There is a lizard on my bedroom door,'" Bond told the RSPCA. I wasn't sure if it was her age that had caught up with her but when I went upstairs she was adamant that she had seen the reptile go into her room.

Bond said she conducted a search of the bedroom.

"We had a good look around and then we found it under the pillow on her bed. I think she was very relieved she didn't wake up in the night with it on her face -- that would have been quite a shocker," she said. It is quite remarkable that the lizard managed to travel all that way unharmed -- but I do feel sorry for him after enjoying such nice warm weather he ended up in Whitley Bay in winter.

Bond contacted the RSPCA, and Inspector Lucy Green was dispatched to collect the lizard.

"It is amazing to think he has survived such an incredible journey. He is certainly a very lucky lizard," Green said. He is feeding well and definitely more lively now as he is no longer cold.

The RSPCA said the lizard is now in the care of a reptile specialist.

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