The Chico Police Department shared the video on its Facebook page. It shows the officer screaming before laughing it off and asking the man if he has any other "creepy critters" in his pocket.
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"You gave me a heart attack," says the officer, still laughing. "That is not cool."
The man being searched apologizes and says he forgot about it.
The man also didn't get to keep the lizard. A second officer in the video can be heard saying, "unfortunately, he ran off."
The Chico Police Department did not reveal the man's identity or why he was being searched.
The video is getting a lot of reaction on Facebook, mostly praising the officers for the way they handled the situation.
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"Way to work with this human with kindness and humor! I'm sure it brightened his day and yours!" read one comment.
"This officer handled this well, with humor. Love our CPD officers!" another comment said.
"He said: well Terry, unfortunately, you can't keep your lizard -Chico quote of the day," wrote another user.
The Chico Police Department added its own comment.
"Lizard attack! Just another day on patrol," police wrote on the video post.