Jul 6, 2009 7:01 pm US/Central
What Happens To Gator Found In Eagan Pond?
EAGAN, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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A 3-foot female alligator was found in Eagan on July 3, 2009. It's now in the hands of a local zookeeper, after Eagan police captured the animal and duct taped the mouth closed.
CBS
Reporters learn in journalism school that if a dog bites a person, that is not news. But if a person bites a dog, that's a story. This story has nothing to do with dogs, but it is all about the biting thing.
A 3-foot alligator was found in Eagan last Friday. It's now in the hands of a local zookeeper, after Eagan police captured the animal and duct taped the mouth closed.
Everyone involved believes it was someone's pet turned loose when it got too big.
"She's really not in bad shape, other than probably being a little underweight," said Heather Clayton, a volunteer with the Minnesota Herpetological Society.
"I mean, I'm not sure how long she was loose, how much she ate ... The base of her tail is nice and thick, she really looks to be in pretty good shape," she said.
Last week the alligator made an Eagan pond its home. Animal control had Friday off for the Fourth of July, so Eagan police got the gator and called the zoo where Clayton works.
"It's a reptile nerd group and I'm a member there," she said.
Clayton shares her home with other reptiles, including a boa constrictor and her own adult gator. So she agreed to take this little girl alligator for now.
But handling gators is tricky, even for a trained professional. You know that by looking at her wrist.
"This was an animal that was unfamiliar to me, who knows how long it's been loose in the wild, away from people, who knows how hungry she is, so when you're coming across animals like this you really have to be on top of it," she said.
Clayton also has a dog and she recommends that type of pet for most people, not a prehistoric predator that can live for 70 years.
She says there are places that will take a gator and a pet should never be set free after being a pet.
"It's very difficult for your average person to keep an animal like this happy and healthy for its lifetime. They get quite large, a male could be 12 feet or so, a female could be eight or nine feet," said Clayton.
If you know of someone with a reptile or gator that is getting too big to keep visit the
Minnesota Herpetological Society Web site. Right now they will try to find a good home for this gator gal.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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