Posted on 05/10/2024 9:38:05 AM PDT by Red Badger
FREEDOM, Pa. — It’s not every day you come across an alligator in our area. On Wednesday, a small gator was discovered in a creek in Freedom.
Beaver Valley Regional Police got a call from someone who spotted the gator and officers safely captured it.
For now, the two-and-a-half-foot reptile is being cared for at Off The Hook Exotic Pet Shop in Ambridge. The owner believes the gator was someone’s pet.
“I don’t think someone dumped him in the creek on purpose. sometimes people take them out for some sunshine then they don’t realize they can climb a fence and they can really travel a far distance before you realize they are gone,” said George Diaz, the owner of Off The Hook Exotic Pets.
George Diaz said the gator will grow to be 6 to 8 feet long. It’s rare to find an alligator in Pennsylvania because it’s too cold in the winter.
Diaz said they usually get a call about a gator sighting once a year.
“Like usually once the weather starts warming up, somebody spots a gator, said Diaz.
Diaz said if you ever see an alligator, stay calm, keep a safe distance, and call 911.
“Gators are very shy especially when they are out in the wild,” said Diaz. “You don’t want to scare them and have it go back in the water because it’s going to be a lot harder to find,”
There’s no state law against owning alligators in Pennsylvania but it is illegal to release one into the wild intentionally.
“If the owner comes forward, they will have to go through law enforcement to get the gator back,” said Diaz.
The gator will stay at Off The Hook until police finish their investigation.
Gator Ping!........................
Don’t broadcast this! Dems are going to register him to vote... It is Pennsylvania. They are desperate!
Maybe the Ambridge police department will end up with fancy holsters...
Only enough to make a coin purse with that guy. ;)
*** It’s rare to find an alligator in Pennsylvania because it’s too cold in the winter.***
No wonder I have trouble in the Midwest. The winters aren’t very sunny, and a bit on the chilly side for an extended period of time. I’m lucky our winter was mild for the most part, and Spring came early this year.
Global Warming will fix that..................
sometimes people take them out for some sunshine then they don’t realize they can climb a fence and they can really travel a far distance before you realize they are gone,
Because THAT’s who you want owning an apex predator...idiots.
I don’t think I would mind.
Thank you for including the State in the title; it is very irritating to read a post about some county, without being informed in which State it is.
I remember when zoo officials in Tulsa were wondering why the ducks keep disappearing. Then they found a gator that had escaped the gator pond and had lived off the ducks for several years. And it get Very Cold in Tulsa at times.
Also reminds me of when a shark was found in the Elephant Butte res in New Mexico about 45 years ago!
Piranha have been found in the Everglades. Then there are the Snakeheads in the Louisiana swamps. OH WAIT! That was James Carville!
Gotta keep a close eye on the gators! They adapt a little bit! ;)
A rare sighting, indeed! All the smart gators moved to Florida, when PA was only leaning to the left.
It looks to be cayman, actually a race of crocodile. The critturs were historically sold as pet baby alligators in Florida to yankee tourists and other fools. They grow, as babies do, and become too big for the aquariums people put them in up north and became the source of the “alligators” in the sewers in New York and some other northern cities a few decades ago.
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