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AALARD
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'Baby' gator trapped in Chicago
CHICAGO, Animal control officers trapped an alligator in the Chicago River early Friday with one witness describing the reptile as "just a baby."
The alligator was reported by a passerby Thursday morning and animal control officers made a brief sighting later that day, the Chicago Tribune reported. When a Chicago Herpetological Society member found it in the trap in a city park at 5 a.m. Friday, the alligator turned out to be 2.5 feet from snout to tail.
Eloy Navarro, who saw the alligator, said it was "just a baby."
Cherie Travis, director of the Chicago Animal Care and Control Commission, said the alligator was probably a former pet. She said its adventures illustrate why keeping dangerous animals as pets is illegal in Illinois.
"Anything's cute when it's little, including a baby alligator, and it probably was released because it was getting bigger and acting more like what it is -- a wild animal," Travis told the Tribune.
CHICAGO, Animal control officers trapped an alligator in the Chicago River early Friday with one witness describing the reptile as "just a baby."
The alligator was reported by a passerby Thursday morning and animal control officers made a brief sighting later that day, the Chicago Tribune reported. When a Chicago Herpetological Society member found it in the trap in a city park at 5 a.m. Friday, the alligator turned out to be 2.5 feet from snout to tail.
Eloy Navarro, who saw the alligator, said it was "just a baby."
Cherie Travis, director of the Chicago Animal Care and Control Commission, said the alligator was probably a former pet. She said its adventures illustrate why keeping dangerous animals as pets is illegal in Illinois.
"Anything's cute when it's little, including a baby alligator, and it probably was released because it was getting bigger and acting more like what it is -- a wild animal," Travis told the Tribune.
