Backyard Bears Are One Thing, Loose Gators Are Another
August 18, 2005
[font=verdana, arial,geneva]PIERCE COUNTY - Bears in the backyard are not that uncommon in neighborhoods all over Western Washington, but alligators??
Well, that's exactly what the folks in one Pierce County neighborhood near Puyallup found in their local pond.
"I live in the neighborhood," Ken Berge told KOMO 4 News, "and I have a kid I have a small dog and I'd hate to be walking down the street with my kid and my small dog and have an alligator come up and chomp the kid or the dog."
"I just think it's incredible," another neighbor Courtney Buckley added, "how we got a crocodile back here in the swamp!"
Actually, it was a three foot long Caiman.
And, a Fish and Wildlife team spent hours criss-crossing the pond with a net trying to catch it -- but kept coming up empty.
"Last night for about eight hours I was out here," said Brian Boman of Pierce County Animal Control, "and I've been out here today (Friday) since about 8:00 this morning."
Finally, the team went in with an electric prod to flush the Caiman out and, at last, they got him.
Wildlife agents wrapped tape around his mouth so he couldn't bite, and put him in a large pet carrier.
So, how in the world did a gator get into a neighborhood pond in Pierce County?
It turns out one of the folks living in the neighborhood had two Caimans at his house -- which is illegal without a permit.
One of them got away while he was cleaning its cage last weekend. That's the one that ended up in the local pond.
Animal control picked up the other one at the man's house after pulling his brother out of the pond.
Both Caimans were taken to the Pacific Herpetological Society, a local refuge for wild reptiles.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38633.htm
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August 18, 2005
[font=verdana, arial,geneva]PIERCE COUNTY - Bears in the backyard are not that uncommon in neighborhoods all over Western Washington, but alligators??
Well, that's exactly what the folks in one Pierce County neighborhood near Puyallup found in their local pond.
"I live in the neighborhood," Ken Berge told KOMO 4 News, "and I have a kid I have a small dog and I'd hate to be walking down the street with my kid and my small dog and have an alligator come up and chomp the kid or the dog."
"I just think it's incredible," another neighbor Courtney Buckley added, "how we got a crocodile back here in the swamp!"
Actually, it was a three foot long Caiman.
And, a Fish and Wildlife team spent hours criss-crossing the pond with a net trying to catch it -- but kept coming up empty.
"Last night for about eight hours I was out here," said Brian Boman of Pierce County Animal Control, "and I've been out here today (Friday) since about 8:00 this morning."
Finally, the team went in with an electric prod to flush the Caiman out and, at last, they got him.
Wildlife agents wrapped tape around his mouth so he couldn't bite, and put him in a large pet carrier.
So, how in the world did a gator get into a neighborhood pond in Pierce County?
It turns out one of the folks living in the neighborhood had two Caimans at his house -- which is illegal without a permit.
One of them got away while he was cleaning its cage last weekend. That's the one that ended up in the local pond.
Animal control picked up the other one at the man's house after pulling his brother out of the pond.
Both Caimans were taken to the Pacific Herpetological Society, a local refuge for wild reptiles.
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38633.htm
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