Another Stray Alligator Found On Long Island

One really has to start wondering where all of the stray alligators, found recently on Long Island, have been coming from. Crocodilians are, I think, illegal to possess in NY; although, one of the articles to which I link below quotes someone who says you need a permit to keep them in New York State. Either way, it is definitely illegal to release or abandon them within New York. Yet, over the past 6 weeks, there have been 9 alligators, all between 18 inches and 3 feet long, found on Long Island.

Sources: http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/11/11/9th-alligator-found-on-long-island-in-6-weeks/ and http://westhampton-hamptonbays.patch.com/articles/juvenile-alligator-found-in-southampton-town.

The sad thing is that any alligators released in NY are sure to die if they are not found and rescued. American Alligators are native to southern states within the USA to include: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. I can attest to the fact that the alligator, which was once an endangered species, is one of the great success stories of wildlife management and is so common once again as to be listed as a game animal, with regular hunting seasons, in many states. I have seen them in large numbers in my travels through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. They are thriving in nature and also are often bred, for their meat and hides, in alligator farms in the southern USA. In some states they are legal to keep as pets but they do not make a suitable pet for any but the most advanced of keepers, who has the proper facilities in which to keep them.

Click on the pic to get a better look at how
small they start out and how big they can get.

They start out as adorable babies, a possibly very tempting offer to buy where legal, but within a few years easily can reach unmanageable sizes for even experienced keepers of reptiles. My advice, look at them, admire them, learn about them and take plenty of pictures of them (all without getting to close as medium to large alligators can be quite dangerous to even adult humans) and otherwise leave them alone. Do not buy one as a pet because chances are it will grow too big, too fast, and that cute adorable baby alligator will tun into something that you want to get rid. If you bought one and later tried to get rid of it, you would likely discover that there are not many institutions and even fewer individuals, willing to take them in. Thus, with no way to properly care for it and no one else willing to take it to give it a suitable home, you might wind up considering turning it loose in habitat not suitable for it to survive as has happened with those here on Long Island.

 

One also has to wonder, will crocodiles show up next. See You Later Alligator - In A Little While Crocodile!

All the best,
Glenn B