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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Mysterious reptile eludes capture in park |
| 2005-08-17 |
| A mysterious, alligator-like creature that surfaced in a Los Angeles suburb has eluded capture for nearly a week, shrewdly passing up raw chicken bait and dodging reptile wranglers in pontoon boats. The 5-foot-long (1.5 meter) reptile was first spotted last Wednesday swimming in a lake at an urban park in the gritty Los Angeles suburb of Harbor City. Park officials concluded that it was probably a Caiman, a relative of the alligator indigenous to South America, and speculate that it may have been an exotic pet that was abandoned when it grew too large. As word of the odd sighting spread, hundreds of spectators have turned up to watch crews of police, firefighters, park rangers, state fish and wildlife workers and even local herpetologists comb the 53-acre (21 hectare) lake in pontoon boats, carrying nets and dangling raw chicken over the side. Better get Steve Irwin on the line. Park officials are planning to take the reptile to the LA zoo when they capture it but all efforts so far to nab the creature have failed, despite claims by a local fisherman that he briefly ensnared it in a net by using flour tortillas as bait. "I had him all hooked up and at the last second he escaped! He was THIS long! I swear it really happened!" said local fisherman. "They're very fast, you can't believe how fast these animals are," Jarron Lucas of the Southwestern Herpetologist Society told local KABC-TV. "Everybody's got their roll of electrical tape," he said. "If I'm on top of him the next person who runs up on top of me can quickly secure his mouth. If that happens here, you'll see everybody dog pile right on top of him." East Side Caiman in the Hizzouse! |
| Posted by:Chris W. |
| #15 I've followed FSU since I wuz 3, Steve is still my favorite Gator. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-17 21:01 |
| #14 PsychoHillbilly- Keep yer fingers crossed. He may not hold onto his job to the first game. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2005-08-17 19:57 |
| #13 nice doo' Stevie, kinda like Jimmie Johnson, but not as successful |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-17 18:16 |
| #12 Curse you, Shipman. You must never speak his name much less show his image! |
| Posted by: PsychoHillbilly 2005-08-17 17:35 |
| #11 Could be the rare but loud South Carolina GatorMan. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-17 16:36 |
| #10 How did we get this far without: South American Caimans: Why do they hate us? |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2005-08-17 11:54 |
| #9 Correction to above Reptile Rant: The pet trade and wrongfully introduced species are the largest threats to reptiles in certain areas. Generally, the greatest threat is habitat degradation. In particular, a lot of reptiles die on roads because they're too slow to get across. Roads cut across reptiles' traditional migrating paths, and people go out of their way to hit snakes on the road. A local herpetologist has receive permission from the county to close a certain country road during snake migrating days (just an evening or two a year). SOmething like this might help reptiles in your area. If you have the opportunity to help a reptile get across a road without causing an accident, do it. If the reptile is a large turtle or snake, call animal control. A massive snapper on the highway is as dangerous to a car as ruptured pavement on the interstate. |
| Posted by: mom 2005-08-17 11:09 |
| #8 CORRECTION Sung to the theme for the "Wally Gator" cartoon show Mystery Gator is such a donut eatin' faker in the swamp. He's the greatest escape maker when the park officials start to romp. There has never been such a hungry mischief maker in the swamp. See ya later, Mystery Gator. |
| Posted by: Ogeretla 2005 2005-08-17 11:00 |
#7  Sung to the theme for the "Wally Gator" cartoon show Mystery Gator is a donut eatin' faker in the swamp. He's the greatest escape maker when park officials start to romp. There has never such a hungry mischief maker in the swamp. See ya later, Mystery Gator. |
| Posted by: Ogeretla 2005 2005-08-17 10:58 |
| #6 It's time for Mom's Reptile Rant. If you want proof that God has a sense of humor, look at the silly, grumpy expression on a turtle's face. Reptiles are fascinating snd enjoyable creatures. If you choose a reptile carefully, with all due attention paid to its needs and a realistic understanding of its growth and your ability to care for these long lived creatures, you will enjoy having a reptile for a pet. Too many idiots don't think ahead when buying any pets; and the results for both reptiles and the environment are disastrous. Our family has rescued several reptiles over the years. Slithers the garter snake was washed out of her winter den during a January thaw, and we found her freezing to death on a snowbank. Fluffy the corn snake came to us via a ten year old who didn't know enough about snakes to put a hot rock or light source in the tank. It's a miracle the snake didn't die of indigestion; snakes have to have heat to digest their food. The owner also didn't know how to get a snake accustomed to being handled, so Fluffy is a challenge to care for. Leon the turtle is a red eared slider, which a friend bought at bottlecap size, not knowing that it's illegal to sell a turtle smaller than four inches; also not knowing that red eared sliders grow to be the size of a dinner plate and live thirty years. Leon has some odd distortions on his shell wich suggest that he was confined for extended periods with a rubber band. He now lives in a horse trough with plenty of room to swim. Too many people buy cute little reptiles and forget how big they get and how much they eat. Burmese pythons grow to 30 feet long. A number of morons have dumped unwanted pythons in the Everglades, where they are breeding and attacking many of the endangered species that we've been trying to bring back for decades. People have dumped pythons near farms, where the snakes prey on livestock. The pet trade is the single biggest threat to reptiles in the wild. The second largest threat is introduction of reptiles where they don't belong. Sombody imported red eared sliders to Southeast Asia as a food source, and now sliders are pushing other native reptiles out. So if you know anybody who is interested in getting a reptile, do whatever you can as a good concerned friend to make sure they do their homework before going to the pet store. Get a captive bred animal (an albino corn snake is guaranteed captive bred; they don't survive in the wild). Be prepared to spend the time and money to do it right. |
| Posted by: mom 2005-08-17 10:19 |
| #5 Run, Masssster! |
| Posted by: Lizardoid Minion 2005-08-17 10:18 |
#4 Hey, he is history some illegals barbqued him because they ran out of ducks to steal from the park for dinner...but all efforts so far to nab the creature have failed, despite claims by a local fisherman that he briefly ensnared it in a net by using flour tortillas as bait. And there you go. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-08-17 10:12 |
| #3 I was wondering where Farakhan was hiding out this summer. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-08-17 09:11 |
| #2 Hey, he is history some illegals barbqued him because they ran out of ducks to steal from the park for dinner. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-08-17 03:12 |
| #1 Charles Johnson was unavailable for comment... |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-08-17 00:27 |