THE ENTERPRISE (Brockton, Massachusetts) 14 July 05 Brockton a temporary gator pond (Elaine Allegrini)
Brockton : Sheila Scully won't be going near the water at Waldo Pond in D.W. Field Park — not until authorities catch what appears to be two alligators spotted by park patrons and police Wednesday.
"I was standing on a rock and looked down and saw an alligator," Scully, 39, of Brockton said as she watched law enforcement authorities converge along the shoreline in the hours after the sighting.
Authorities say the reptiles — one about 4-feet long and the other 5 feet or more — likely were abandoned in the pond by someone who had been keeping them as pets. As of 8 a.m. today, the reptiles had not been caught but the search was to resume.
Environmental police officers say they are finding more abandoned reptiles as people travel out of state to buy the creatures, then find it too expensive and inconvenient to keep them as they grow. Keeping alligators is illegal in Massachusetts.
"This isn't a naturally occurring phenomenon," said state environmental police officer Thomas Provost as he and EPO Robert Akin supervised the search in Waldo Pond, is a fishing spot for locals. Swimming is banned.
Scully said the sight shocked her. "It was about two feet away," said Scully, who summoned her two sons and a couple who were in the parking lot.
"I saw the head, then the tail and the notches in the tail," said James McComb, who went to the edge of the pond with his wife, Susan.
Police were called to the scene at 5:10 p.m. and before long determined there were what appeared to be two alligators in the pond. At times, one or the other's head would emerge above water, but never long enough for Brian O'Connor, rescue manager for the Animal Rescue League, and a colleague to reach them.
O'Connor traveled on the pond in a kayak, at one point netting a snapping turtle. His colleague was in an inflatable. They used chicken as bait, but as darkness fell the search was called off until this morning.
Meanwhile, Lt. Alan Borgal, director of law enforcement for the Animal Rescue League, said floating traps would be set in hopes of catching the reptiles overnight.
"To be realistic, it may take a few days to catch them," he said. If it rains, it will be even more difficult, he added.
"It's cruel to abandon them," said Borgal. "They won't survive."
Brockton animal control officer Darren Hand said he has responded to four calls about alligators in his five years on the job, but never to fetch them out of water.
"Usually in the city, people have them as pets and they get too big, so they abandon them," he said. "This is not a call you get every day."
Akin and Provost said the reptiles might survive for a short time if the water is warm enough, but would definitely not make it to winter. The habitat for American alligators is the southeastern United States.
They can injure a person who tries to handle them without proper training and protective gear, Provost said.
"I wouldn't want him to bite me." he said.
Scully said alligators would not keep her away from the park but she will be careful.
"I love D.W.," she said. "I just won't get too close to the water."
Brockton a temporary gator pond