When I was a kid I always had irrational fears. I was convinced there were sharks in the pool and that alligators lived in the sewers. Well, it turns out that not all of my childhood fears were so far-fetched. While alligators are not lurking in the sewers, an alligator was found in a New York waterway. Now the great mystery is on how earth did it get there?
Alligator In New York Waterway: The Great Mystery
Screenshot from Facebook
When thinking of a home alligators would like, New York is not the state that comes to mind. However, I guess this gator didn't get the memo. The NY Post shares that "Rockland County police fished a live alligator out of a small creek" and are still trying to deduce how it got in there in the first place. The Haverstraw Police Department shared the news on their Facebook. In their post they explained, "Haverstraw Police Department personnel assisted in successfully removing the alligator from the water. The Hudson Valley Humane Society of Pomona responded to the scene to take possession and care of the alligator."
While many were happy to know the alligator had been removed and was being properly cared for, it didn't answer the question of how the alligator got into the New York waterway. Many people speculated that someone had kept this alligator as an illegal pet. Comments about it piled up beneath the post. One user wrote, "Had to be a pet .... Illegally I'm sure 
." Another added, "People need to stop getting them as pets." Others were just happy the alligator found safety. They commented things like, "Thank you sooo much for rescuing him and getting him help!!! 
."
The alligator was given to the Humane Society for care. From there a herpetologist from the Bronx Zoo identified the alligator as a male. Additionally, he claimed that the alligator found in the New York waterway was healthy. From there, the gator was transported to the Mark Perpetua's Reptile Encounters in Saugerties, New York where he can safely live out the rest of his life. How he arrived in that waterway will forever be one of the many great mysteries of New York.
