News: Alligator Found Off Long Island Expressway
(Long Island, N.Y.) The Suffolk County Police Department responded to an emergency call earlier today that came from a motorist on the Long Island Expressway who spotted a strange animal on the shoulder. Police officers were able to cage the animal, which was a two-and-a-half-foot-long alligator. The incident occurred at roughly nine-thirty this morning.
The gator was spotted between Exit 68 for East Yaphank and Exit 69 for Wading River in a location east of the William Floyd Parkway. While it’s unsure where the animal came from, some speculate where it may have been taken from based on the location. The Long Island Game Farm, which is located off Exit 70 of the Long Island Expressway, is a wildlife park and children’s zoo. It’s located on Chapman Boulevard in Manorville and had featured an alligator exhibit on its website.
This isn’t the only incident of gator spotting to happen this year on Long Island. At the end of February, a man from Syosset was charged with the possession of a dangerous animal after he attempted to sell an alligator on Craigslist. The responders to the ad were undercover officers, and the man was later arrested by the Suffolk County SPCA.
The alligator in that case was only a foot long when it was taken into custody during the scheduled exchange with undercover officers along the Long Island Expressway. It was cared for by the Suffolk County SPCA and later released to an out-of-state reptile sanctuary. Reports stated that authorities on the case couldn’t determine where the animal came from.
The man was released after posting two hundred and fifty dollars bail and had a second court appearance at the beginning of April. The alligator was only a year old at the time of the incident. The Suffolk County SPCA is a local and independent not-for-profit agency that has been protecting and defending New York animals over the past two decades.
A similar case occurred in early February when several exotic animals were stolen during a pet store robbery. The store was called “The Animal Hut” and was located in Mastic. Reports stated that burglars broke into the store and stole several exotic animals. One of the animals was a three-and-a-half foot long American Alligator.
The other animals included three albino boa constrictors and a five-foot-long Argentine Red Tegu. Tegus are large lizards, and the Argentine Red Tegu is the heaviest of all Tegus, reaching up to twenty pounds. The stolen Tegu was among the larger of its kind, as most Argentine Red Tegus grow to an average of four-and-a-half feet.
Exotic animals like the Argentine Red Tegu require tanks or cages that are at least six feet in length for optimum health. They need to be kept in heated environments at an estimated eighty to eight-five degree temperatures. They are known to be colorful and docile creatures and are capable of being tamed.
Followers of the case wonder if the persons responsible for the abduction of the animals, which have been taken from their natural climates, understand what must be done to keep them alive. The Argentine Red Tegu will go into hibernation at colder temperatures. If the animal does so with food in its stomach, the food will rot instead of being digested, and it will die.
