Sdiver
07-15-2007, 09:46
We don't have the sewer system that NYC has, so it looks as if someone has released a gator into a local fishing hole. :eek:
Loveland pond closed after gator-like creature spotted
LOVELAND, Colo. - Officials first thought it was joke, even after several people had reported seeing a large reptile in the Jayhawker Ponds.
Now the ponds and the 30-acre natural recreation area around it are closed until the animal is caught.
Larry Callihan, Love's parks manager, said a Larimer Humane Society official confirmed an animal, estimated to be a 5- to 7-foot-long reptile, is in the pond.
"(We'll use) an electroshocking boat to electrify the water and make it pop up," said Aimee Ryel, state wildlife officer.
Police Sgt. Rae Bontz said, "As long as people stay away no one is in any danger."
How they will catch it remains a question that largely depends on how big and hungry it is, said Sherri Stokley, whose parents own Colorado Gators, a reptile sanctuary in Alamosa. Loveland officials are working with Stokley's company and the Colorado Division of Wildlife on how to find and capture the animal.
"Probably somebody had it as a pet and let it go," said Stokley. There was no sign it was able to walk out of water like Hollywood's creatures from the black lagoon.
It did give several youngsters fishing from a dock the scare of their lives. "Something jumped out of the water. We thought it was gonna attack us," said John Peck, 10. "We reeled in our poles and got on our scooters and got out of there as fast we could."
It is not the first time a caiman or alligator has been released in a Colorado pond. In one case, in Denver, the creature was never found even after Washington Park's lake was drained.
Loveland pond closed after gator-like creature spotted
LOVELAND, Colo. - Officials first thought it was joke, even after several people had reported seeing a large reptile in the Jayhawker Ponds.
Now the ponds and the 30-acre natural recreation area around it are closed until the animal is caught.
Larry Callihan, Love's parks manager, said a Larimer Humane Society official confirmed an animal, estimated to be a 5- to 7-foot-long reptile, is in the pond.
"(We'll use) an electroshocking boat to electrify the water and make it pop up," said Aimee Ryel, state wildlife officer.
Police Sgt. Rae Bontz said, "As long as people stay away no one is in any danger."
How they will catch it remains a question that largely depends on how big and hungry it is, said Sherri Stokley, whose parents own Colorado Gators, a reptile sanctuary in Alamosa. Loveland officials are working with Stokley's company and the Colorado Division of Wildlife on how to find and capture the animal.
"Probably somebody had it as a pet and let it go," said Stokley. There was no sign it was able to walk out of water like Hollywood's creatures from the black lagoon.
It did give several youngsters fishing from a dock the scare of their lives. "Something jumped out of the water. We thought it was gonna attack us," said John Peck, 10. "We reeled in our poles and got on our scooters and got out of there as fast we could."
It is not the first time a caiman or alligator has been released in a Colorado pond. In one case, in Denver, the creature was never found even after Washington Park's lake was drained.