ALLIGATOR PATROL

[Dave Monroe]

They found a gator in the Chicago River? Believe it
By Mary Owen
Tribune reporter
June 21, 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

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-alligator-21jun21,0,4844214.story

"In which Stencil nearly goes West with an alligator" (V., Ch. V)

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