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ABC 7 (Fort Myers, Florida) 13 January 04 Missing one-eyed
crocodile captured
North Fort Myers: A 92-year-old, one-eyed crocodile that's been on the lam for two weeks is now home.
The croc got loose during a robbery and managed to hide out until Tuesday morning, when he was found behind the Octagon Sanctuary, located on the Shell Factory property in North Fort Myers.
Finding the croc was just part of the equation – catching it was a whole other story.
Reptile specialist David Weathers led the retrieval group of about a half a dozen. They spent most of the time staring into the pond and waiting.
Ten-year-old Felicia Frisco, a home-schooled student, got an up close and personal biology lesson as she watched the team track the gator.
"I was thinking that maybe he had gone or crawled out when we wasn't looking," she said.
Then Weathers waded into the pond and the action started.
"They tired to throw a rope out there and he finally popped up," Felicia said.
"He didn't want me to get close enough for me to grab his tail," Weathers said. "We try and do is not use any hooks or any devices to catch him."
As Weathers started to reel the crocodile in, the rope snapped – and everyone wisely backed off. The next time the croc wouldn't be so lucky.
"Once he got close enough, I put a rope on his neck, the hooks come out and we drag him up on land," Weathers said.
"They take up and they started pulling them up and David was on top and they were taping him all up," Felicia said.
The capture left Weathers wet and tired, but in much better shape than his first run in with this crocodile.
"When I first caught him in Miami, I had to drain the pond to get him," Weathers said.
He said he'll take the crocodile home to a pen made just for the 92-year-old. There, the reptile will be bred – he already has fathered more than 100 babies.
There have been no arrests in the robbery that set the crocodile free.
Missing one-eyed crocodile captured
