Reptile experts get stray 'gator in Chicago River

[August 25, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- The next time you feel like dipping your toes in the Chicago River -- beware.

A second alligator has been captured from the waterway that winds through downtown Chicago.

Children, parents and dog walkers gathered this week to catch a peek of the 3-foot-long reptile in the river on the city's North Side. It was captured Tuesday.

A Chicago Herpetological Society volunteer also caught a 2 1/2-foot alligator in the river earlier this month. The society wanted to catch the latest alligator quickly because it wouldn't have been able to survive the harsh Chicago winter.

City animal control experts believe both alligators are abandoned pets.

Eight-year-old gator-spotter Caleb Berry said Monday he wasn't afraid of the gray-and-gold scaled alligator because it is "a baby."

[Associated Press]

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