Comments on: Reggie Is Back

By: alandp

alandp — Sat, 05 May 2007 11:22:45 +0000

Just a note on the San Antonio gator.

This is the second gator to be found in San Antonio during the month of April.

These are not “out of place” gators. Alligators are fairly common in the deeper parts of southern Texas. In Atascosa County (the county just south of Bexar County, where S.A. is), every pond of any decent size will have a gator or two in it. It was only a matter of time before they began expanding a little more north and started being found in the S.A. area. I’m honestly surprised it has taken this long.

The first gator to be found in April apparently worked its way up the Salado Creek and was found in an area where two fairly large city parks have created a low-density human population and gave it some privacy.

The second–the big one–looks like it came from nearby Mitchell Lake. This lake has been closed to the public for most of its existence because it was used in water reclamation. It is a good-sized lake and it is connected by creeks to two smaller lakes, the northernmost of which is within easy view of the highway where the gator was found.

Since humans very rarely frequent Mitchell Lake, I’m guessing this won’t be the last gator to be found there. A big lake with very little possibility of human contact makes a great place for gators.

And of course, a little farther south of this area is Choke Canyon Reservoir, which is literally crawling with alligators.

By: sschaper

sschaper — Thu, 03 May 2007 03:38:36 +0000

alligators, like most animals in North America, have adapted to our civilization, and their numbers are increasing. No doubt population pressure moves gators north, just like it moves wolverines, bears and wolves south.

By: James Paige

James Paige — Wed, 02 May 2007 17:47:50 +0000

I am extremely happy to hear that Reggie the Gator is still alive and well! I attend art classes at LA Harbor College, which is immediately next to Machado Lake. I have lived in the area for years, and love to take walks around the lake. For people from other states, gators may be no-big-deal, but here in the LA area, having our own gator feels really special. I was really worried that the long absence of sightings meant that he had died. Many of the students have adopted him as an unofficial mascot, and pretty much everybody I know from the area shares the opinion that he should be left alone and allowed to stay in the lake.
I guess the main reason that he is a “problem” is the legal liability if he were to actually hurt someone. Nobody in their right mind would try to swim in that murky water, but the off-chance remains that somebody *could* do it. The certainty that politican’s heads would roll if someone was bitten means they are determined to catch him and relocate him.

By: Rillo777

Rillo777 — Wed, 02 May 2007 03:24:08 +0000

Gators turn up in the White River here in Indiana from time to time as well. We even have had reports of Piranha and Pacu, which resemble Piranha but are fruit eaters.
I contacted a pet store that specializes in exotic animals and they said that people buy them, then dump them in the river when they get too big to care for where they supposedly die when cold weather comes.

By: Atticus

Atticus — Tue, 01 May 2007 06:15:19 +0000

They should put him in that county flood channel with Little Reggie.They can live together in bliss.

By: springheeledjack

springheeledjack — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:30:06 +0000

Lake Placid here we come!!!

Don’t let Betty White feed the thing!

By: Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels — Tue, 01 May 2007 04:12:23 +0000

What A Croc!

By: joppa

joppa — Tue, 01 May 2007 03:09:09 +0000

We have been catching Gators all winter around our TVA nuclear plants in Tennessee. People let them go and they hang around the warm water discharge areas, also around sewage treatment discharges ( more warm “water” ).

By: byondbyond

byondbyond — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:39:42 +0000

here’s another one!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-04-30-freeway-gator_N.htm