AUBURN JOURNAL (California) 15 March 06 See you later, gator - in Weimar: Confiscated animals find a temporary home in foothills (Penne Usher)
Photo: Four alligators that were confiscated from a Lodi poultry farm are now being cared for at Wild Things in Weimar. (Karina Williams)
Four alligators confiscated at a Lodi poultry farm Monday have taken up temporary residency in Weimar.
Gabe Kerschner, owner and operator of Wild Things in Weimar, is well versed at caring for exotic animals, and when asked by the California Department of Fish and Game to lend a hand caring for recently confiscated gators he didn't hesitate.
"We're holding them for Fish & Game until proper homes can be found," Kerschner said Tuesday. "We like to help out with housing until a zoo or wildlife park can be found."
Patrick Foy, spokesman for the California Department of Fish & Game, said his department was alerted by San Joaquin County officials that several alligators, about 4 feet long, were being kept on a nearby poultry farm.
"They were originally discovered because one of them escaped," Foy said Tuesday. "We went down Monday and picked them up."
Kerschner volunteered to assist the wardens with gathering the gators.
"We don't have expertise handling alligators and the person who trains us is Gabe," Foy said.
He said that Daren Augustin, the 40-year-old poultry farm owner, was illegally keeping the reptiles, one of which was found dead.
Augustin said Tuesday that he kept the alligators in a greenhouse with a pond on his 16-acre property just north of Lodi in the town of Acampo. Although he didn't have a permit, as required by the Department of Fish & Game, he said Tuesday that he is in the process of applying for one and would like to work with Fish & Game officials.
"My interest is not for the love of the gator," Augustin said. "They don't have a big heart and you can't train them to sit up and beg."
Augustin said he's concerned that there is a growing number of people in California who purchase the alligators as hatchlings from out of state, and a year or two down the road they have a 4-foot reptile to deal with.
"I have the facility and feed available and the interest," Augustin said. "Some people are having a hard time dealing with (the alligators) and I take them."
As far as Fish & Game officials are concerned, Augustin, who aided Foy and at least five other wardens loading the alligators into cages, broke the law.
"He's been cited for illegal possession," Foy said. "It is illegal to possess or maintain a restricted species without a permit."
It's not all that uncommon for game wardens to seize exotic animals, including tigers, mountain lions and bears.
"It's never a good thing to keep a wild animals as a pet," Foy said. "It's not good for the animal or people. That's why the animals are wild."
Augustin said he's undaunted and would one day like to open an alligator refuge and educational facility.
See you later, gator - in Weimar