McCord Park's Komodo Dragon

As you walk along the path of Guyte P. McCord Park in Tallahassee, Florida, there are quite a few sculptures created by W. Stanley “Sandy” Proctor. The most unique and oddly charming is a gigantic, lifelike Komodo dragon.

There is no plaque and it is unclear why Proctor decided to place the Komodo dragon in the urban Florida public park, yet there he sits, in all his reptilian glory. The massive lizards aren’t found in the area—they’re actually from Indonesia. They can grow to be as large as an adult alligator, Florida’s ruling reptile. The Komodo dragon’s distant cousin, the Nile monitor lizard, has become an invasive pest in parts of the state.

Proctor, a Tallahassee native, is a renowned sculptor. His work appears in places throughout the country and has even made its way into the White House and the Smithsonian. He’s known for the way his bronze artwork realistically depicts its living subjects.

His attention to detail carried over into the sculpture garden at McCord Park. Many of the statues are of whimsical scenes of children gleefully playing, often with some sort of animal companion.