Alligator found in Chicago River

An alligator was found in the Chicago River on the South Side Friday afternoon, police said.

The alligator, which is about 5 1/2 to 6 feet long, was found near 37th Street and the Chicago River about 2:15 p.m. by a citizen who called police.

The city’s department of Animal Care & Control, 2741 S. Western Ave., took the alligator, which was alive, and no injuries were reported.

Source: Chicago SunTimes

Okefenokee Swamp gator to live on in display

Visitors loved Oscar, the Okefenokee Swamp Park's resident 13-foot, 5-inch, 1,000-pound, alligator, who often slumbered on the freshly mowed grass and sometimes the concrete walkways in the park.

But sometime during his long life, someone must have wanted his hide.

Oscar survived a shotgun blast to the face, at least three bullet wounds to the head, turf wars, multiple broken bones and crippling arthritis. Officials know that now because the beloved old gator died last July and the evidence is visible in his bones.

Oscar died about a year ago, but within a few months, visitors will be able to view him once again, or at least his skeleton, which is being mounted like that of a museum dinosaur. The contents of Oscar's stomach at death will also be included in the display: a plastic dog collar, a dog's tag, a penny, pieces of plastic, rocks and the top section of a flagpole.

Source: Jacksonville.com

Uninvited guest crawls into kitchen

Hearing strange noises at about 10:30 p.m., Sandra Frosti, 69, called 911. Frosti had an 8-foot alligator in her kitchen.

The whole thing apparently started when Poe the cat was prowling outside and the big alligator followed it home.

When Poe slipped onto the back porch, the 220-pound gator came along, crashing through a screen and passing a potted ficus tree and litter box.

Tailing Poe, the 8-foot, 8-inch reptile crawled over the blue carpeting, through an open sliding glass door and past the green suede sofa in the living room.

The gator likely emerged from one of the many ponds, lakes and creeks in Eastlake Woodlands in north Pinellas, where they are a common sight.

Source: St. Petersburg Times

Like Deja vu all over again

Lakeland, FL, resident Adrian Apgar was rescued in 2006 from the jaws of a 12-foot alligator while naked and high on crack cocaine. Police have rescued Apgar again and are holding him in protective custody after he was found standing naked in a pond. He told deputies he had been bitten by a snake while looking for an alligator.

Watch where you sit

Photo 1:(via)
Photo 2:(via)

Man's Pet Alligator Gets Him Into Trouble

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Clay County man's pet alligator has him in trouble with wildlife officials. According to a sheriff's office report, Michael Dyer has been charged with misdemeanor possession of an alligator.

A tip led animal services officials to his apartment where they also found a dog, a rat, a python and a tarantula in cages.

The 22-year-old tried hiding the foot-long gator inside the toilet when officials arrived at his home.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took the month-old alligator to be released in the wild.

Dyer faces a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Albino Alligator Makes Zoo Debut

There will be no fun in the sun during Dinah the alligator's summer vacation at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee.

The albino reptile's sensitive, porcelain-white skin would easily burn if placed outside, so she will spend the sweltering days of summer basking inside under a heat lamp. Reptiles are cold-blooded, which means they rely on other sources, such as the sun, to keep warm.

Dinah, whose name was announced today following a local contest, is on loan until early September from the Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida.

8-Foot Alligator In Parking Lot Puts Up Fight

A worker at a Cocoa, Florida car dealership got quite a surprise, Thursday, an angry alligator underneath one of the new cars.

The 7-foot-11 reptile was found hiding under a Mitsubishi up for sale, drawing a crowd and a gator trapper with a warning.

"He could jet out from underneath there quicker than any snake and grab an ankle and do a lifetime of damage," said trapper Bill Robb.

Robb said, while the giant beasts are usually on the move this time of the year looking for a mate, there are more than normal and he believes the lack of rain could be the cause.

"I don't know how it could be much drier. Alligators don't care for it one bit," Robb said.

Alligator Takes Bite Out Of Police Car

Some Texas motorists got an unexpected surprise Sunday morning. A wayward alligator made its way onto Interstate 410.

The seven foot gator took a bite out of a police car bumper before it was cornered in a nearby ditch.

In true Texas fashion the alligator was lassoed and pulled to shore, although the police decided it was better not to brand it.

Game wardens say it's unusual to find an alligator in San Antonio, but the animals do sometimes wander that far north during mating season.