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JACKSON SUN (Tennessee) 17 September 04 TWRA swiped by alligator tale (Kary Booher)
Photo: The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency tried to capture what turned out to be this ceramic alligator at the Old English Inn on Friday. (Justin Veneman)
With the Vols set to play the Florida Gators in a football showdown tonight in Knoxville, two workers with the local branch of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency basically had to say, ''See ya later, alligator'' in their quest to haul off a gator at Cajun Cookers restaurant on North Highland Avenue.
Said Alan Peterson, a wildlife biologist with TWRA, ''It turns out there was nothing really to it.''
It turns out there was nothing to haul off but a ceramic gator.
Yes, a ceramic gator.
As in not real.
''If I hadn't known how serious it was,'' said Cajun Cookers owner Darrell Hicks, speaking in his honey-tongued Louisiana accent, ''I'd have taken them on a wild goose chase outside, and I would've said, 'Oh, my goodness, he's out of the pool.'''
Given tips that children were getting their picture taken next to an alligator at the restaurant, inside Old English Inn, Peterson and an assistant pulled into the parking lot armed with a warrant and a cage.
It was Hicks whom the TWRA summoned out of the kitchen and to the front desk, and Hicks told the pair that he wasn't about to let anyone take his alligator.
Besides that, he couldn't understand why they would want it, but he led the pair to the dining room anyway.
Even Chip Coughlin, who runs the hotel, hurried over to see what was going on.
''(Hicks) told me we were being served with a warrant,'' Coughlin said. ''I was like, 'Good Lord! What?'''
What the TWRA encountered, however, was a ceramic object neatly painted to look like an alligator standing on its hind legs, dressed as a waiter and, with its left front leg, holding out a server's tray with three spice shakers.
The gator seemed to be grinning, too.
''They came here looking for an alligator with a long tail that was crawling all over the parking lot,'' Hicks said.
Peterson and his assistant could only shake their heads. All in a day's work. All as the restaurant was about to make its grand opening.
''It broke up the monotony,'' Peterson reluctantly admitted.
Hicks bought the ceramic object two weeks ago for $425 at a beach-front store in New Orleans. Really, he figured it would be something nice that would spruce up the atmosphere of his restaurant. Cajun Cookers has long been a catering business and in the past few weeks has served buffet meals on Sundays. Now it's a full-scale restaurant.
When he returned from Louisiana, Hicks placed the ceramic gator near one of the restaurant entrances. Apparently, children who have spotted the gator have asked to have their pictures taken with it.
''This is just a real stylish-looking alligator,'' Hicks said. ''He fits in our restaurant just perfect.''
Peterson was acting on tips he received from concerned citizens who had heard rumors there was an alligator at Hicks' place.
But who could blame him for showing up?
In Tennessee, it's illegal to own alligators, lions, tigers and other exotic pets, just as it is illegal to have raccoons and possums as pets, Peterson said. He went along with his assistant to make sure the alligator wasn't a Caiman, a South American crocodile species that is sold in pet stores and actually is legal to own, he said.
Had a real alligator been in Hicks' possession, Hicks could have faced several hundred dollars in fines.
Instead, Hicks got a good chuckle, although he said he couldn't blame Peterson and his assistant for being a little embarrassed.
''I feel real sorry for them,'' Hicks said. ''It wasn't their fault.''
TWRA swiped by alligator tale
