5-Foot Long alligator Found In Chicago River

[Kor37 9]

It's no croc: 5-foot-long alligator found in Chicago River was probably a discarded pet

AP

Posted: 2008-06-20 19:17:37

CHICAGO (AP) - First there was a wily coyote in Chicago's downtown. Then an ill-fated cougar on the North Side. Now authorities have captured an alligator in the Chicago River.

 

An employee of a metal manufacturing company found the 5-foot-long (1.5-meter-long) reptile Friday in the river's South Branch.

 

Alligators are found in the U.S., but usually in warmer climes like Florida rather than this Midwestern city, which is the country's third largest.

 

The alligator didn't try to attack anyone and was safely pulled from the river by a reptile expert, said Anne Kent, director of the city's Animal Care and Control Department.

 

The alligator was probably a discarded pet, officials said. It's now in the custody of the reptile expert.

 

The alligator was probably attracted to the river by carp, Kent said.

 

A coyote surprised customers when it walked into a Chicago sandwich shop last year. And police shot and killed a cougar found roaming the city in April.

No wonder they call Chicago a zoo.......... :o

[TJ Phaserman 2]

so i guess the rumors are true about gators living in the sewers lol

[trekz 7]

Update on Chicago Aligator:

 

An American alligator measuring approximately 4 1/2 feet long and weighing 45 pounds was trapped in the Chicago River. (Tribune photo by Alex Garcia / June 21, 2008)

 

By Mary Owen | Tribune staff reporter

11:15 PM CDT, June 20, 2008

 

Terrible things have emerged over the years from Bubbly Creek, a spot in the Chicago River that was once a churning sewer for the city's slaughterhouses.

 

But until Friday, nobody had seen what Bill Cox and his co-workers saw—something with a devilish underbite, sinister eyes and a cold-blooded appetite.

 

An honest-to-goodness alligator in the Chicago River.

 

"It just stayed submerged with its eyes popping out like in the documentaries," said Cox, director of human resources for Midland Metal Products. "It was in stealth mode, I think."

 

Cox was among about a dozen Midland employees who spotted the female alligator swimming laps near a secluded industrial area in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

 

The American alligator may have been a long way from home, but she looked docile in the water. Her demeanor changed after she was trapped by volunteers with the Chicago Herpetological Society.

 

The thrashing, hissing transplant—estimated to be 5 years old—was put in a plastic container and spent the next few hours snapping at TV cameras and people who came to meet her in the Midland parking lot. The American alligator is one of the strongest and most aggressive of reptiles native to the United States, experts said.

 

It's illegal to own alligators and other exotic reptiles in Illinois, one of about 30 states with such a ban, officials said.

 

"These are not nice animals," said one of the volunteers with the herpetological society, who asked not to be identified to avoid being inundated with requests from naive pet owners to remove reptiles. "These are powerful things, and they are dangerous."

 

The alligator discovered Friday was 4½ feet long and about 45 pounds. At full maturity, she would grow to 10-12 feet. The alligator, a native of the southeastern U.S., was found in Bubbly Creek in a woodsy area near 37th Street and Racine Avenue, which at one time was one of the dirtiest parts of the river.

 

After years of cleanup efforts, the creek now has a bountiful fish population, which the alligator likely fed on, officials said. Its diet includes rats, birds and fish.

 

The alligator will be sent to a sanctuary in the Southeast, according to the herpetological society. The group was called to assist because city Animal Care and Control is not equipped to handle alligators.

 

This is the first alligator found in the Chicago River, according to the herpetological society. The group's volunteers said they've confiscated 25 alligators this year, both in nature and in homes.

 

The Bridgeport alligator likely was dropped into the river relatively recently because it's unlikely it could have survived the severe winter, said Joyce Peterson, senior keeper in the swamp department at the Brookfield Zoo. Tribune reporter Tim DeChant contributed to this report.

 

mowen@tribune.com Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune

[Theunicornhunter 2]

It's a shame they'll never find who did this to prosecute them - some irresponsible people think little gators are cute and so they nab one and then dump it when it gets too big so it becomes someone else's problem.

[Kor37 9]

It's a shame they'll never find who did this to prosecute them - some irresponsible people think little gators are cute and so they nab one and then dump it when it gets too big so it becomes someone else's problem.

Not only that but to be so nasty as to put people in danger. Someone could have been seriously injured by the alligator!