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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | DeKalb County's Oldest Newspaper

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A 2-foot alligator was dropped off at the DeKalb Animal Adoption Center on Friday.

Animal shelter gets uninvited guest

By Lindsay Slater
The Times-Journal

Published June 5, 2009

The DeKalb County Animal Adoption Center got quite a surprise Friday morning when someone dropped off an alligator.

Director Leslie Johnson said it’s the first exotic animal the center has received.

“A man brought it in the back of his truck,” Johnson said. “He said he found it on U.S. 11, and that’s all we know.”

Johnson said she is unsure where the 2-foot gator came from.

Little River Superintendent John Bundy said it is unlikely the gator is from the area.

“It must have gotten here by artificial means,” Bundy said.

State Lake Supervisor Jack Turner said there are gators native to central and South Alabama but not North Alabama.

“It’s a bit too far north and a bit too high in altitude for alligators in North Alabama,” Turner said. “I’m 100 percent confident but not 100 percent sure that it was someone’s pet, and they didn’t want it anymore.”

Turner said the reports of alligators in North Alabama are sporadic and there is no reason for him to believe there is a population of the reptiles in the area.

Lt. Michael Casalini with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said if alligators were breeding in DeKalb County, there would be more sightings.

Casalini also said it’s likely it was someone’s pet.

“They are not going to bother you unless they start getting fed,” Casalini said. “When they start associating people with food, it’s a problem.”

Casalini said it’s against the law to have an alligator as a pet if it’s kept in a cage or enclosed area.

“If it’s in a pond or something like that, it’s likely [not to be against the law] because it’s a native species to Alabama.”

Keeping a gator enclosed could result in a felony charge under Alabama alligator protection regulations.

Johnson said Friday that an official out of Montgomery was on the way to pick up the animal.

“The gator is going to be picked up and released in an undisclosed location where it won’t be disturbed or hurt anyone,” Casalini said.

Johnson said the gator had a rather calm demeanor for its reputation.

“We get wild cats in here all of the time, and they are a lot worse than him,” Johnson said.

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