GAZETTE TIMES (Corvallis, Oregon) 27 June 05 Animal control officers snare caiman on the loose
Eugene (AP): Found: One caiman, rather large, lizzard-like, lots of sharp teeth. Contact the Lane County Animal Regulation Authority. Please. No questions asked.
When a resident looked out his window on Friday he could have worn he saw an alligator. He was mostly right.
A 4-foot-long caiman, a relative of the alligator, was curled up under a parked pickup truck. Caimans are native to Central and South America.
"It was pretty dangerous,'' said Mike Wellington, program manager for the Lane County Animal Regulation Authority. "It could definitely take down a small child or small animals.''
Armed with a catch pole usually used on dogs, animal control officers Bernard Perkins and Becky von Steine approached the caiman.
Perkins knew he had to act fast before the creature went into its "death roll.'' When large reptiles feel trapped or threatened, they roll over again and again. If they have prey in their jaws, the technique helps tear off limbs and other body parts for easier munching.
If the caiman had rolled after Perkins leashed him, the animal could have strangled on the cable loop, Wellington said.
Perkins got the reptile into a large crate without any permanent damage to man or beast.
At the weekend it was lounging at the animal shelter in a space usually reserved for homeless chickens.
"He's pretty happy,'' Wellington said.
It's legal to own such reptiles in Oregon, Wellington said, and the owner isn't in any trouble.
However a neighbor says her cat is missing.
The animal authority is hoping the caiman's owner will claim him. "We're not really set up for this kind of animal,'' Wellington said.
Last week in Medford Paul Sabin got his 3˝-foot alligator back three days after it wandered off while he was tending to a sick Burmese python.
It was found in the yard of a neighbor.
Sabin tends to sick and injured reptiles.
Animal control officers snare caiman on the loose