PATRIOT-NEWS (Pennsylvania) 20 July 03 Crikey! An Italian Lake Update
The small alligator calling Italian Lake home continues to elude its potential captors, but a boy from Linglestown spotted the creature just after 6 p.m. yesterday.
Jesse Thomas, 12, said his mother had brought him and his buddy, Cody Wills, to the lake to see if they could spot the alligator.
He said they didn't really expect to see it. But they did.
"It was cool," he said.
A small crowd had gathered on the north side of the long, narrow lake to check out the 'gator, who was lolling among the lily pads about 12 feet from shore.
Some tossed small stones and chunks of weed in the reptile's direction. It obligingly snapped at the offerings.
"He's just a little thing," said one young woman.
"How are they gonna catch a little thing like that?" asked another.
The looked to be under 2 feet in length.
"They've been saying it was 2 or 3 feet long," said a middle-aged man in the crowd. "Maybe there's more than one."
Alana Drayton, 16, said she had stood on a bridge at the lake last year when her father pointed out something big moving through the water.
"I didn't get a real good look at it," she said. She held her hands about 3 feet apart and said it was about that long. "I can tell you it was big enough to make me say it was time to get out of there."
Fred Lemke, the city's animal control officer, said the alligator remained free yesterday. He said he and others continue to see the alligator along the surface of the water from time to time during the day, but never long enough to try to catch it.
"He's pretty shy, and he's smart," Lemke said.
Friday night, volunteers searching the lake grabbed the creature, but it slipped through their fingers.
Traps intended to catch the gator have been baited with fresh chicken.
Meanwhile, Lemke said he and everyone else have no choice but to continue to wait and watch.
Crikey! An Italian Lake Update