reptiles

Small Alligator Makes Public Debut in Queens

Perhaps jealous of the attention a certain other species got earlier this year, an eighteen-inch alligator was found Sunday underneath a parked car in Astoria. After the commotion attracted a small crowd, the Emergency Service Unit eventually arrived and lassoed the alligator, binding its snout with tape. Based on reports from observers, this gator sounds like a pretty complex reptile. Police officer James Duffy’s account made it sound pretty adorable, calling it “tiny and harmless” and musing “it’s not big enough to eat a dog — maybe a mouse.” But 25-year-old onlooker Elizabeth Ferguson wasn’t as smitten: “He was really small, but mean looking,” she said. Expect an OK! magazine exclusive with the gator later this week.

Gator crawls out of Queens drain [NYP]
Alligator Surfaces Beneath a Car in Queens [NYT]

Small Alligator Makes Public Debut in Queens