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'Everyone was screaming': French waitress pulls goanna from restaurant thinking it was a dog

When a French waitress noticed a dog wander in to a packed NSW south coast restaurant, she didn’t hesitate to drag it outside, until she realised that it wasn’t a dog – it was a seriously large goanna.

Samia Lila was serving at Mimosa Winery’s when the unwanted diner scaled along the restaurant floor, prompting her to drag it by the tail without hesitation.

“I looked at it and thought it was a dog at first!” Ms Lila told Fairfax Media.

“But then I realised it was a goanna… I wasn’t scared, I like reptiles so was a bit excited.”

The 25-year-old French waitress didn't hesitate in dragging the reptile from the restaurant. Source: Facebook
The 25-year-old French waitress didn't hesitate in dragging the reptile from the restaurant. Source: Facebook
The goanna put up a decent fight as customers watched on in disbelief. Source: Facebook
The goanna put up a decent fight as customers watched on in disbelief. Source: Facebook

The 25 year old initially blocked the reptile with a chair but with nervous diners becoming increasingly agitated, she employed a technique she had heard from her boss.

“Everyone was screaming, so I started screaming too!” Ms Lila added.

“I was just like a kid; I thought ‘I want to do it, I want to do it, I know it’s bad, but it was getting close to customers’.”

Her boss and winery owner, Glenn Butson, had previously told Ms Lila of his own encounter with a goanna - a story that obviously resonated with the French native.

Diners weren't quite as brave as Ms Lila, standing on the tops of their chairs, watching the French native go to work. Source: Facebook
Diners weren't quite as brave as Ms Lila, standing on the tops of their chairs, watching the French native go to work. Source: Facebook

“I recently told her a story about a goanna trapped in our shower and how I picked it up by the tail and carried it outside," Mr Butson told the Courier Mail.

“She just thought that’s what Aussies do when a goanna comes inside.”

The raw footage shared on Facebook has been viewed nearly 200,000 times since it was shared on Saturday.