COURIER NEWS (Elgin, Illinois) 28 October 05 Alligator would've died from the cold (Janelle Walker)
Elgin: This year, the city was temporarily the home, some believe, of an elusive monkey that never was caught or photographed.
James Rog, the acting animal control officer for the Elgin Police Department, chased monkey reports for a week.
The alligator he caught Thursday evening, however, was the real thing.
The small American alligator, about 2½ feet long, is about a year old, according to a volunteer from the Chicago Herpetological Society who picked up the animal.
Rog was in the dispatch center at about 5:20 p.m. Thursday when the call came in that something which appeared to be a alligator was in the Fox River under the Interstate 90 bridge near Duncan Avenue.
When he arrived, Rog said, he found four officers looking at something in the river.
Rog netted the animal, and he held its mouth shut while another officer wrapped the gator's mouth with electric tape.
He credits TV specials and the Animal Planet network for knowing what to do.
The animal didn't struggle, which Rog attributed to the cold river water's effect on the gator, which is a cold-blooded animal that relies on environmental conditions for warmth.
"When he warmed up, he got agitated," Rog said.
It's not the first time an exotic, out-of-place animal has been pulled from the Fox River.
At least twice in the past two years, Fox River anglers have reported catching pacu, a relative of the piranha that is native to South America.
In 2003, a visitor to Churchill Woods Forest Preserve in Glen Ellyn found a 5-foot-long boa constrictor.
Officials at Kane County Animal Control said in the past, they've found an emu, lynx, monitor lizard, python and a donkey running loose in the county.
The county actually bans possession of many of those animals.
"Possession of a lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, any hybrid thereof, or any other similar feline animal, bear, hyena, wolf, coyote, wolf-dog or coyote-dog hybrid, fox or any member of the vulpes family, any member of the crocodilian family, poisonous reptile, or any other life-threatening reptile shall be prohibited to be kept," according to the Kane County Animal Control Web site.
Melanie Napoleon, manager of the Great Lakes Awareness campaign at the Shedd Aquarium, said she found out this summer that the Lake County Health Department has pulled small alligators and similar animals from small county lakes — including two this summer.
Although Napoleon's larger concerns are invasive species like Asian carp and zebra mussels, releasing non-native species into Illinois waters is never a good idea, she said.
"They are not adapted to make it here," she said, pointing out that in cold water, it's uncertain whether the animal could survive very long.
She suggested anyone looking at getting a pet — from a dog to an alligator — research it first and find hobby groups with information on the animal.
And, if the animal becomes too much work or the owner's situation changes and can't keep the animal, Napoleon suggested finding a rescue group.
"There is a club or a rescue group for everything," she said.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/top/e29gator.htm
DAILY HERALD (Chicago, Illinois) 28 October 05 Alligator found in the Fox River (Christine Byers)
Photo: Elgin Police Department Animal Control officer James Rog holds a year-old alligator he rescued from the Fox River on Thursday. (Mary Beth Nolan)
Elgin’s animal control officer, James Rog, thought most what a couple of residents said they found in the Fox River Thursday was nothing more than a bunch of sticks.
Rog still had a hard time believing the 2½-foot-long American alligator was found in the Fox River near the I-90 overpass and Duncan Avenue even a few hours after he rescued the reptile
“I’ve got to keep him away from the monkeys outside,” Rog said, poking fun at unconfirmed reports of monkeys running lose in the city earlier this year. “I suspect somebody had it as a pet and it just got too big.”
Two men called police around 5 p.m. when they spotted the creature swimming near a concrete pylon. Rog trapped the animal with a net and contacted the Chicago Herpetological Society, he said.
A volunteer from the nonprofit came around 8 p.m. to take the alligator with hopes of eventually sending it to Florida.
While he waited for the volunteer to arrive, Rog attracted quite a bit of attention standing near the entrance with the alligator in his arms.
The animal’s mouth was taped, of course.
“Are you going to keep him?” asked Joyce Hopper.
“I got in enough trouble for bringing the last dog home, so no, I can’t bring home an alligator,” Rog said.
When his cell phone rang, Rog politely told the caller, “Let me put you on hold because I’ve got an alligator in my arms.”
Even a few of his fellow police officers couldn’t help but inspect the find. Some even gave it a name: Al the Alligator.
“Where did you find it?” asked Bruce Thomas.
“The Fox River,” Jog said.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Thomas said. “I wonder if his mom’s still there.”
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/kanestory.asp?id=111602
