Alligator Watching - in MY neighborhood!!!

[Not Afraid]

The Floridians on this board know of my great obsessions with The Alligator. I reallyreallyreallyreallyreally want to see one in the wild, but it hasn't happened yet.

So, imagine my amusement when I saw that there is a gator living in a lake not 10 miles from my house. "Authorities" are trying to catch it, but the smart gator has alluded them so far. GO GATOR!

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050819/od_nm/life_alligator_dc_2

[Ghoulish Delight]

Isn't it a caiman?

Edit: Oh, they seem to have changed their mind.

Well, while your out wrasslin' gators, swing by the shore and check out the blue whales (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4869896/detail.html)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Ah yes, saw this on the news last night. I didn't realize it was close to you though.

So, are you going to go take a look? Or are its surroundings not "wild" enough? :)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Isn't it a caiman?

The alligator guy they hired to catch it says its a gator.

[Not Afraid]

I love living in an urban environment. But, I LOVE IT when nature exists despite the urbanity. Seeing racoons at my front window, squirrell, opossoms and skunk roaming the neighbourhood; blue jays in my tree.........nice. The Gator isn't really "natural" but it sure is cool!

Oh, and THIS is the Park whcih holds the lake which lives in the house that Jack Built. ;) (http://www.utopianature.com/kmhrp/whatis.html) It's quite close to our house.

[€uroMeinke]

Apparently this park has a problem with it's homeless population - so I wonder if the gator was introduced as a natural predator?

[Ponine]

I need an update down here in San Diego..... Someone told me that they heard it used to belong to a police officer??

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yup. They made two arrests, one a former LAPD officer.

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4890780/detail.html

[Not Afraid]

LOS ANGELES -- A former LAPD officer and another man were arrested in connection with the release of an alligator into Machado Lake in Harbor City, where searchers have been trying to corral the reptile, police said.



Authorities also seized alligators, piranhas, scorpions and a tortoise from a home Wednesday morning in the 2500 block of South Moray Avenue in San Pedro in connection with the case, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Catherine Plows.



Investigators said a tip led them to the home where they found evidence of an alligator habitat, photographs of alligators, narcotics and two snapping turtles..............
Based on information gathered in that search, investigators then went to the home of Todd Natow, 42, in the 2500 block of South Moray Avenue in San Pedro around 3 a.m. Wednesday and arrested him. Natow was in possession of three alligators, four piranha fish, one rattlesnake, three desert tortoises, six tortoise eggs, one scorpion and six marijuana plants.


Investigators believe the conspiracy included Brewer giving an alligator to Natow who later released it into the lake.


Natow was a Los Angeles Police Department officer from 1984 to 2001, when he resigned, said Officer Jason Lee.


Authorities believe the men put the alligator into the lake when he grew too big to be a pet...................

The gator is about 7 feet long.


Herpetologists and volunteers said they have not seen the animal for days, but a city parks employee claims to have made a positive identification late Saturday and again Sunday.


The big worry is that the animal could slip out through one of the park's storm drains, Jarron Lucas of the Southwestern Herpetologists Society told the Daily Breeze earlier this week.

I can't WAIT to see a 7' long Gator crawling out of my storm drain.

And, snapping turtles, piranahs, scorpians????? UGH!

[Morrigoon]

What do you wanna bet they have the entire lake roped off so that the "public" can't be "endangered".

[Not Afraid]

They do. You can't get near it.

[€uroMeinke]

Here's a "Reggie" update from NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4811662&sourceCode=RSS)

[alphabassettgrrl]

The article in today's LA Times said they think he knows they're hunting him and he's hiding.

No, really?????

Poor thing. He's probably scared. He went from being a pet to having to find his own food. I hope he gets back to being cared for.

[Not Afraid]

Maybe if they dangled some puppies in the water.......



OK. I'm going to hell for that one,

[Mousey Girl]

Nah, 'cause I was just thinking I know some kids they could use as bait.

[Not Afraid]

I was chatting with Ponine tonight and realized I was out of touch with my Gator world.

First, they DID catch the smaller Gator - Little Reggie (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/09092005/80/second-renegade-alligator-surfaces-los-angeles.html)





Animal control officers and professional alligator wranglers spent much of Wednesday trying unsuccessfully to catch the slippery, 3-foot (1 metre) reptile with a noose, only to have him duck repeatedly under the water and out of sight.



"It was almost like he was taunting the guy trying to catch him," Reagan said. "I think he thought they were playing because he would put the net on his nose and then go under.

"He's really calm," she said. "Everyone's making a big scare out of it but he's really friendly, he's just a baby. They approach him like he's harmful but he's not at all."







Then, it was reported that they DID catch the BIG Gator - Reggie



Wranglers Nab Elusive Urban Alligator In Los Angeles Lake (http://www.wftv.com/news/4966783/detail.html?rss=orlc&psp=irresistible)



Reggie was supposed to be taken to the LA Zoo, but Reggie never showed.



It turns out the capture was a HOAX.

Elusive L.A. alligator remains on the loose (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9323046/)



"To the best of my knowledge and all the reports I have received this morning, it was a hoax," said Ron Berkowitz, the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks superintendent, who supervises the area that includes the lake. "I called the zoo to verify, and the gator is not there. I called the rangers, the city council office and my staff at the lake. There was no capture."



Now, they've brought in some renegade wrangler and the people from Gatorland have left in a huff.

Gatorland team quits search for Reggie in a huff (http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1729326.html)




Florida gator wranglers pulled out of town Monday, furious over the public ridicule they said they were forced to endure over the weekend when Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn brought in a big-talking Katrina evacuee to help catch a loose alligator in Harbor City.

Introduced through a Los Angeles Times reporter, Thomas "T-Bone" Quinn was escorted by Hahn to Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park on Saturday for introductions to the media. The councilwoman said she was "completely won over" when she first talked to the Louisiana evacuee staying temporarily at the Dream Center in Los Angeles. He said he wanted to "give back" to the city for giving him temporary housing and had a lifetime of experience catching alligators.
Heavily tattooed and boasting of his gator-wrangling abilities, Quinn showed up with camping gear and a movie agent in tow. He didn't waste any time hurling insults aimed at the Gatorland crew.

"I just hope I can keep Gatorland off my back," he was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. "I ain't telling them nothing. That pontoon boat (they're using) is retarded."



This whole thing has gone way past my expectations.